Sleeping Sickness
by DirtyPopsicles
Summary: Suffering from vicious nightmares after her run-in with Red John, Lisbon is a walking zombie. That is until Jane offers her a way to get the sleep she desperately needs. As they share the same bed, the unspoken things between them have free reign of their nights, and Lisbon's secrets and past won't easily let Jane rest, either. Post MBH. Re-edit/Re-upload. Ongoing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is not new. However, I am having a hard time in my life right now, and just can't seem to write updates to my other new stories. I know a lot of people liked this story, but I wasn't too happy with it or the grammar issues. I have corrected it as much as I could (making it more readable), and thought that after a year of being taken down, I would allow it to have life again-and hopefully properly motivate me for my newer stories. Please enjoy. Thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Sweet Relief**

* * *

It was the same as always. She was still searching. Her eyes repetitiously scanned the room as she stepped back. She didn't notice that the door behind her—once closed—was wide open. She couldn't see the hidden shadow behind her as her instinct as a cop rooted her to the place like an old tree.

Teresa Lisbon didn't see the very same malevolent shadow creep behind her. The body at her feet, Brett Partridge, was just the beginning of what was waiting for her. She clenched her jaw and felt the quickening of her pulse and the beating of her heart against her ribs. Something was very wrong. Years of being a beat cop and boss at the CBI had given her the inexplicable luxury of that gift. Something wasn't just wrong—something was bad. Awful.

This was painfully confirmed when she felt the pull of her hair. She was falling backward. Falling into blackness as electricity flung through her body and shut her eyes for her against her will. She felt the world crumble under her. She can remember a groan escaping her parted lips before she was rendered into the black.

Teresa Lisbon awoke in a puddle of sweat. Her tank top was drenched, her hair stuck to her neck and forehead in clumps, and she was breathing fast and hard as she sat bolt upright. She gasped for air and pushing the covers off her body, turning herself and sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands.

It had been nearly four years since her near-fatal encounter with Red John. It wasn't easy on her, to say the least. For every day since she had the same recurring dream. Sometimes she woke up before she got to the part where he laid her on the mattress and put blood on her face, and sometimes after. It didn't matter, really. It still made her shudder when she finally opened her eyes in shock and sat up.

She could never really sleep more than a few hours a night. Once the nightmare invaded her, there was no going back to it. This fact, however, was leading to a decline in her job at work. Not only that, but Jane was on her ass that she looked tired or he'd throw a comment that she wasn't as chipper. She hated the ribbing, but mostly she was too tired to fight with him.

Red John was stone dead. Jane had killed him. She knew all this. She lived two years knowing this. The way she coped with Jane's absence was to spend her nights reading his letters just so she wouldn't have to fall asleep into that horrible dream without some light poking through. She'd found comfort in those letters of his. She often woke up panting hard and reached for her box that she kept on her night table beside her bed. Now that he was back and the letters stopped coming, there wasn't anything that helped her anymore. The box had been placed inside the closet. His old letters just didn't work the same.

She sighed, pushed her hair from her neck and stood on shaking legs. Walking to the bathroom off her bedroom, she flipped on the light and turned to the wall mirror. She sighed heavily at the reflection staring back at her. She looked so tired; pale and dark circles lacing her beautiful alabaster face.

"You look like crap," she told her reflection. "You need handles for those bags." She frowned.

She turned on the faucet and picked up the glass from the counter, shoving it under to collect the chlorine-tasting water. Her lips were stiff and dry. They were cracking and peeling and felt like the desert. So did her mouth. She sipped the cool water and splashed it around in her mouth before swallowing it and placing the cup back where she got it. She turned herself from the mirror where her horrible reflection mimicked her and turned out the light. She was going to hop into bed with one of her _How To Be More Assertive_ books when her cell phone rang on her dresser.

Work. It had to be this late at night. She walked over and picked up the phone, sliding her finger across to answer. She cleared her throat and rubbed her eye with her knuckle, then yawned.

"Lisbon." She listened for a minute, tilting her head and feeling the ache in her neck from lack of sleep. "Yeah, okay. Text me the address. Is Jane there already?" She yawned again. "Okay. I'm about ten minutes out."

She was so tired that she nearly fell over her own feet as she got dressed, pushing her pants slowly on and buttoning them. She was convinced that one of these days, she'd pass out from exhaustion while driving or going after a dangerous thug. She hated this. Sleeping pills didn't work on her anymore, and she refused to go see a doctor for it. Teresa Lisbon seeking out help for a nightmare? No, thanks! Not cool, calm Teresa Lisbon. She pulled on a rose colored blouse and black blazer and headed out to look at the waking nightmares she saw every day.

* * *

"Lisbon, you look peaked," Jane told her as she walked slowly toward him, where he was waiting for her with a coffee. "Everything all right?"

"Jane," she sighed, "I am really not in the mood for your crap, okay?"

Jane handed her the coffee container and held his hands up in defense at her direct grumpiness. "Sorry. Just … I am a little concerned, Teresa."

"Don't be ridiculous. What do we have, boss?" she asked Cho.

"Well, I am," Jane persisted. "You look worse and worse every time I see you. That's not an insult, Teresa. It's the truth," he added, noting the look on her face.

"Would you stop analyzing me, damn it?" she asked him grouchily, her hand going up to her aching neck and massaging it.

"Fine." Though he didn't look like he was done with the subject, she saw him give up his persistence for now.

Cho briefed her on the case, detailing the body and the evidence collected. Lisbon was listening to him, but from the corner of her eye, she could see Jane staring at her. He knew something was up and it ate at him that he couldn't quite figure it out. But then, she liked to think he never could figure her out. That suited Teresa Lisbon just fine.

"Okay," she told Cho. "I'm going back to the office to run his finances. Jane? You want to be a pain in my ass or Cho's? If it's mine, let's go," she said, nodding toward her car.

She knew he'd pick her. He always did. She walked a little clumsily to the car. She just couldn't seem to get herself together. Her vision would fade in and out and she often caught herself before she fell down. Usually, the coffee Jane got her each morning would help wake her up with the caffeine rush she needed. Today, however, she was having no luck. No luck at all.

She could feel her eyes burning like a naked light bulb and close briefly before cracking open again and catching herself. The drive back to the office was like that. A few times she felt herself drift off but would regain control. It was also a quiet ride with Jane, which seemed impossible these days. She could feel his hot stare on her. She ignored him and decided not to take the bait. He clearly wanted her to confess what was going with her, but she didn't have any plans to do so. Not to Patrick Jane. It was bad enough there was a tension between them since he got back from that stupid island of his.

He never even bothered to explain himself or his actions. Instead, he had inserted himself into her life again, and like a sucker, she had let him. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing something was up with her. She wouldn't allow him that little bit of self-centered joy.

They got out of the elevator fifteen minutes later and Lisbon mechanically made her way into the bullpen. She nearly sighed in relief when her back hit her chair. Her legs were like jelly and her body was so heavy with unused sleep. She could feel her heavy eyelids dropping like lead. She nearly dropped her head to her desk when Jane called out from behind her, sitting down on his couch and crossing his legs. She slowly turned her chair to face him.

"You know," he started. "I know when you are lying to me, Teresa. You're terrible at it. Besides," he shrugged a shoulder, "you can't even lie convincingly. It's all twitching eyes and close-lidded looks."

"Jane, please shut up," she half-begged. "Drop it, okay?"

"Ah! So there is something up! What is it? Tell me," he leaned forward. "Teresa," he whispered, capturing her attention. "Let me help you."

"You can't help me with this, Jane," she told him.

Why the hell was she admitting she even had a problem? Sure, he could see and sense it, but that didn't mean she had to confirm it. He had this way of getting things out of her when he used her first name. There was a certain thing that happened to her when he said it the way he did. The "Terezah" was incredibly sexy when he said it.

Though her eyes were filled with exhaustion, she looked at him and felt the familiar feeling in her gut. The tension they shared after he came back wasn't just anger of unanswered questions. It was also of deeply hidden desires and feelings between them both. At least, it was on her part. She couldn't explain Jane's reasons for his tension toward her. She sensed it, though. Sometimes the way he looked through her instead of at her or sometimes when she brought up his time on the island, he'd close up and make some kind of jackass comment.

"I can't help if you don't tell me what is wrong," he whispered. "You really don't look well, Teresa." He uncrossed his legs and stood, peering down at her. "I am seriously worried."

She looked up at his face and knew that he was telling the truth. His eyes reflected concern and his mouth was in a serious line across his face. She stood up.

Too quick.

Too hard.

She felt her shaking legs give out from under her and her eyes flew closed. She was heading down swiftly.

"Teresa!" She heard from some distant plane. "Teresa!"

Felt warm arms around her.

Sweet sleep. Sweet relief. Sweet blackness.

 _Going._

 _Going._

 _Going._

 _Gone._

The world shattered behind her eyelids and faded away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two - Visitor In Bed**

* * *

She was vaguely aware of warmth underneath her cheek. She stirred and sighed, smiling at the heat cradling her face. The feeling was new and strangely welcomed. It was as if she wanted to curl into the heat even closer. She turned in closer, tilting her head up and felt a sharp, warm breath on her face. Her eyes swung open and she lifted her head. Everything was hazy; as if the world around her had been engulfed in clouds. As her vision finally adjusted, however, she found herself staring at the sleeping face of Patrick Jane: consultant, and an obligatory jackass. She dropped the content smile off her face and felt her heart jump in her throat.

Teresa gasped and rolled over, scrambling off whatever the hell she was on and dragging the cover with her. It had been under Jane's heavy body, and when she pulled on it, it tugged him and rolled him off the other side of the bed.

"Ouch!" he blurted out sleepily, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "What the hell?"

"What are you doing?" she demanded, covering herself with the cover even though she realized she was still fully dressed, all save her shoes.

She realized as she took in her surroundings from the corner of her eyes, that she was in her house. In her bedroom sleeping. Patrick Jane was sleeping in her bed next to her. What the hell was his problem?

"I was sleeping," he told her, standing and continuing to rub his skull. "Until you deposited me onto the floor."

"Why were you in my bed? What—what the hell is going on here? You better start explaining before I find my gun!" She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes angrily at him.

"Now, wait, Teresa! I have a reason for—for being in your bed, okay? Calm down," he assured her.

"You'd better start talking! If I can't find my gun I will just kick your ass with these!" She held up her fists clenching the navy blue cover. "What the hell are you doing in my bed and what were you doing spooning me?"

"Spooning? Really?" Jane shook his head. "All right, all right. Put—put your fists away. Sheesh! Anyone ever tell you you're kind of violent?"

"TALK!"

"Fine." He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, locking his eyes on hers. "You passed out at work, Teresa."

"So?"

"So? I brought you home," he explained. "You were out like a light, Teresa."

"I passed out?" she repeated.

"In my arms, yes," Jane confirmed, walking around the bed slowly, his eyes still trained on her face. "Rigsby carried you to your car and I drove you home."

She took this information in and licked her lips. She had passed out and he had brought her home. That sure didn't explain why he was spooning her in her own bed or why when she felt his warmth she felt like a sledgehammer had hit her with an electric charge through her veins. She was hugging Patrick Jane's torso and it still wasn't enough. She had wanted to be even closer. But that was just her sleepy subterfuge, right?

"You brought me up here?"

"Yeah," he replied, keeping his distance still as his eyes darted to her balled up fists and back up to her eyes. "I didn't think you'd want to go to the hospital, but if I had my say... I laid you down and took off your shoes. Didn't want to—you know. So I left your clothes on."

"Still, doesn't explain why the hell you were in my bed when I woke up!" She yielded and lowered her fists, balling up the cover and tossing it back on the bed. She wouldn't tell him she had woke up snuggling up to him or that she had enjoyed it.

"I was going to leave, I swear! I was heading out of here."

"What made you change your mind about that? Opportunity?" she shot at him. She knew it was unfair, but she was angry and embarrassed.

He looked as if he'd been slapped. He walked closer to her and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "That's not fair, Teresa."

She said nothing. Instead, she flinched away when he tried to reach out to push a straggled tuft of hair from in front of her eyes. He cleared his throat and dropped his hands.

"Uh, okay," he finally said after a few awkward moments of silence. "You were screaming in your sleep, Teresa. I mean, piercing screams. I tried to calm you down, but you wouldn't stop."

"So you thought you'd just hop in my bed? Your brain is fascinating!" she said angrily.

"Well, I actually, uh, I reached out to touch your arm to calm you and you just...stopped," he said, gesturing with his head in a slight nod. "One moment you were screaming, and the next I was touching your arm and telling you it was all right and you were silent and dreaming."

She just stared at him for a long moment. She had been too frazzled to realize that she actually felt like she had slept a decent amount of sleep. Her eyes no longer burned or shattered into a million pieces and stab her pupils when she opened them. Her legs did not shake when she stood on them and the heaviness in her eyes were just dull aches.

"How long did I sleep for?" she whispered, looking at Jane in confusion. "How many hours?"

"I don't know exactly," he admitted. "I fell asleep about an hour after I laid down beside you. Nine hours?"

"I slept all night," she whispered to nobody in particular. "The nightmare stopped when you climbed into bed."

"Huh?" Jane pulled his hands from his pockets and rubbed his chin. "Nightmare? This is the reason you didn't look good and why you passed out?"

She walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down. Jane hesitated, then followed her and sat down beside her. She could see him staring at her, trying to figure out what exactly he was missing. She secretly relished the fact he had to ask her or have her confirm and that he couldn't just guess on his own. She always hated when he did that to her.

She explained to Jane about her recurring nightmare and how it deeply affected her sleep almost every single night. She even told him about waking up sweaty and gross. She left out the part about reading his letters to keep herself awake. She finished and looked over at him, searching or some sign of what he was thinking. He was a closed book to her, so it was no surprise when she came back empty-handed in that department.

"Teresa," he finally whispered. "He's still dead. There's nothing to fear anymore. He's gone."

She sighed softly to herself. "I know that, Jane. It doesn't change the fact he still haunts my nights, okay? How do you think I'm feeling? I know he's gone. I wish that fact could be used to keep the dreams at bay. There's nothing I can do about them." She cleared her throat and stood. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. The only thing that seemingly gives me respite is you," she said. "How's that for some irony? Pain in my ass by day, the only person to give me the best night's sleep in years by night. My bad karma."

Jane was silent. Unusual for him, so Lisbon dipped her head so that he was distracted enough to look up at her. There was a strange look on his face. She recognized it as a look of deep thought. He exhaled and licked his lips. She watched him dart out a hand and tuck that stray strand of hair he had tried to move earlier behind her ear.

"What if we made an arrangement, Teresa?" His eyes bore into her. Not just into her, but through her. Around her.

"Arrangement?" She was a little bewildered. "I'm not following..."

He smiled and shook his head at her. "What if I slept here at night? You could sleep well finally."

"Absolutely not!" she protested. "I—I really don't think-"

"Lisbon, it wouldn't be anything more than a business arrangement. That's all," he promised. "A compromise."

"No! I don't want— _please_ , Jane. Leave," said Lisbon, stepping back from him. "Please?"

He lingered on her face for a moment later before he silently turned and walked out of her room. She waited until she heard the door snap closed below before she turned and fell backward on her bed, covering her face with the palms of her hands and trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

Business arrangement? What in the hell was he thinking? Sure, he had given her the best sleep she's had in years, but she wasn't about to invite him into her bed! It's bad enough he ended up there last night.

She sighed inwardly. She couldn't help but go back to waking up with her face buried in his warm chest. She had wanted to get impossibly close to him, for God's sake! She instantly chided herself for feeling that way. There was no way she was going to let him sleep beside her night after night. There was enough tension. She didn't need anything else standing between them. It could crush what relationship they had. Was this her real reason for saying no? Hell if she knew anymore. For right now, it was the one she was going with.

* * *

It was a few hours later that Jane walked into the CBI and plopped down on his couch. Lisbon hadn't come in yet, and he didn't know if he actually expected her to. When he left her, she was embarrassed and upset at his suggestion of sleeping with her in her bed.

For his part, he didn't think it was a bad suggestion. He thought of it as a transaction. He'd provide her with nights of restful sleep, and for his part—well, he didn't know. He would have asked her when he thought of what he wanted in return.

He laid down on the leather and sighed. He remembered crawling into bed with her and pressing a hand to her arm. When she stopped her outburst, he had decided that he'd stay to make sure she was all right. He didn't plan to stay the night. He fell asleep and it just so happened that he ended up with her against him. Not that he minded at all. He simply enjoyed feeling her warmth.

Actually, if he was being honest with himself, he had watched her as she slept. The peaceful look on her face and the slight tremor of her lips, the gentle rise and fall of her chest. He would never tell her that he actually fell in love with her long ago. There was already enough strain on their partnership from when he took off and came back and uprooted her life once again.

The nightmare was his fault. Had he not upset her, she wouldn't have gone there alone and Red John wouldn't have gotten to her. He hated himself for that. For doing that to Lisbon. In some way, he was trying to make up for his mistake. Realistically, he could provide her with the forgiveness he was asking.

His eyes slid to the elevator as he watched her walk out of it. She looked a hell of a lot better after getting good rest. She walked without the shaking of her body and she looked much more of her natural complexion. She looked rested. Her eyes locked onto his and she turned her head away, choosing to look at the nice new paint on the furthermost wall to her right.

He watched as she slid into her desk chair and turned on her computer. He looked at the back of her and sighed. She was being needlessly difficult. If she didn't want his company in her bed to keep her dreams at bay, fine. He couldn't force her. But to studiously ignore him for what happened this morning was crazy.

"You mad at me?" he asked her, playing with the tips of his fingers.

She said nothing. He could hear the tapping of her keyboard in her resolute silence.

"Teresa, we need to get this sorted out. I won't have you ignoring me. Please?" he begged. "Talk to me."

She sighed deeply and turned her chair around to face him. Her face was as impassive as a mask. He couldn't read her very well.

"There's nothing to sort out, Jane," she told him. "I told you what I had to say and that's it. Okay?"

"Something is bothering you, Teresa. Why won't you tell me what it is? What did I do?"

"You're the goddamn mentalist," she replied in a mean tone. "You tell me."

"If I knew, I would not have had to ask," he muttered. "Is this about this morning? Because I am not telling anyone and I am pretty sure you won't. I was just trying to comfort you, Teresa," he whispered. "Honestly."

"Well, thank you for the comfort and all of that, but I think I can manage from here."

He sighed as she turned herself back to her desk, tapping away again at her keyboard. She was being challenging. Nothing new with her, really, but there was something under the surface bothering her. He couldn't quite figure it out, though.

They spent nearly the rest of the day in silence with one another, only speaking when Cho asked if they had any leads on the case thus far, which they didn't.

When it was finally time to go home, Jane deliberately waited until everyone had left the office before he approached Lisbon, who was putting things into her bag for her trip home. The concern wouldn't allow him to let her go just yet.

"Are you sure you don't want me to...compromise?" Jane asked her, standing in front of her desk.

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Okay," he replied. "You have my cell number. If you ever need me, just call me. Understood?" He waited for her to answer. When she didn't, he put out a hand and tilted her chin up. "Understood?"

He heard her breath catch in her throat. Finally, she pulled away from his hand and nodded her head at him.

"Yes, I understand. Good night, Jane!"

"Goodnight, Teresa," he whispered as she walked quickly away from him. "I hope you have pleasant dreams."

As soon as she crawled in bed, she immediately felt the absence of his warm body. Not only that, but she was scared to close her eyes in fear the nightmare would return. She didn't want Jane to be her comfort. She wanted the nightmares to go away on their own. She didn't want his body so close to hers. The warmth of his body, the shape of his legs nesting in hers. She just wanted some good rest for a change and not with Patrick Jane's help.

She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her. There was no use fighting it. It would come eventually. She hoped she didn't have the nightmare again, actually. Perhaps Jane had cured it for good. She shifted under the covers and laid on her side. It wasn't long before the blackness behind her eyes faded into sleep.

She was lying on the mattress this time. She could feel the scrape of his fingers as he wiped the crimson across her flesh, lingering over her lips and eyes. The moonlight from the broken window behind him illuminated the carpet knife that he was using to collect his sick paint. She followed his movements with her eyes as his gloved fingers ghosted over her forehead and cheeks. He got to her chin, the last bit of bloody paint, and she awoke, gasping for air and sweating profusely again.

She could feel the tightness in her chest as she tried to stop herself from losing control and hyperventilating. She was slipping. She could feel herself falling into panic and frustration. She lifted her sticky palms up and wiped them on the cover that was half off of her body and brought them to her eyes, rubbing furiously, trying to scrub the nightmare from her brain.

She could have cried. In fact, she was. She could feel the sobs working in her chest, fighting to get out of her throat and tear into the silence of the room. She was exhausted. She could feel it in her bones and in her mind.

Lisbon curled her legs up against her chest and rocked herself, trying to steady her racing pulse and hammering heart. She put her head on her knees and then turned to rest her cheek on them. She saw her cell phone sitting on the night table as the tears fell fast and heavy on her pajama-clad legs. She lifted her head and reached for the cell phone.

She didn't want to be alone anymore. Despite her attempts to go it alone, she knew she couldn't. It wasn't in her. She was so tired. She was tired of the nightmare and tired of living the damn thing every single night.

She pressed a speed dial number and put the phone up to her ear. After just two rings, they answered.

"Teresa," he said softly. "Everything okay?"

"I need you," she told him, crying heavily into the phone. "Can—can you come over, Jane?"

"I'll be right there, Teresa," he told her. "Don't worry. I'm coming. Okay?"

"'Kay," she replied helplessly. "Hurry?"

"I'm coming. I promise. I have to hang up now, Teresa," he told her. "I'm heading over."

"T—thanks," she sobbed.

She hung up and rocked back and forth. She realized she locked the front door when she came in. Sliding slowly out of bed, she made her way down the stairs to wait for Jane. She didn't have to wait long. She saw him pull up outside of her apartment. He exited his car and ran up the stairs. She unlocked and opened her apartment door.

Jane took her expression in and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He reached out and innocently wiped the tears from her face. It was gentle and was something a friend would do for someone. She closed her eyes at his touch.

"Are you all right, Teresa?" he asked. "Did it come back?" He meant the nightmare.

She nodded her chestnut curls. "Yeah. Jus' tired." She opened her eyes which were drooping heavily.

He let go of her cheeks and reached down to take her hand. Silently, he led her across her living room and up the stairs.

"Let's get you to bed," he whispered. "I'll help you sleep, Teresa."

"Mmhm," she muttered tiredly. "You do that."

He led her down the hall and into the bedroom they shared early this morning.

"I will. Promise," he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Teresa Lisbon was conscious of two things when she opened her eyes. One of those things was a warm hand resting smoothly on her hip. The second thing she was aware of was something poking her butt. She raised her head off the pillow and looked down. His hand was splayed across her hip; his fingertips calm against her flesh. She was pretty sure she knew what was poking her in the backside, too.

Reaching down, she slowly began to move his hand from her side. This, however, backfired on her when he sighed in his sleep and rolled closer, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her to him gently, but coiling her body tightly in his grip.

She could feel his lips against her neck. The warm breath on her and his arm around her waist made her gasp softly. She could feel him inhale and release a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the fact she could feel his lips inattentively rubbing against the back of her neck.

"Mmm," he mumbled in his sleep. "You smell nice. Warm."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. Not short on cheesy lines even in sleep. She pulled her arm forward and slammed her elbow back into his chest, hitting him in the ribs. He cursed softly and she felt his lips and hands leave her, followed by the warmth of his body. She turned herself and watched as he sat up against the headboard and rubbed his ribs with his hand.

"Do you think you could come up with another way of waking me up?" he whined, wincing. "This is starting to border on assault and battery."

"I tried, but you fastened on like a snake in a death grip!" she told him, pushing herself up and resting her back against the headboard. She kept her body away from his but turned her head to him. "You need to stay on your side, Jane."

He stopped kneading his ribs and looked at her. " _My_ side?" A small smile played on his lips as he took in her apprehensive lip bite. "So, does this mean you're going to agree to my arrangement?"

"Does it look as if I have an option?" she returned.

There were a substantial few moments of quiet between them. Neither looked away from the other as their eyes locked tight. It was just the two of them and nothing else. All surroundings melted into the background and became molded away from their faces. There was an unspoken feeling that permeated the air between them and made speaking difficult.

Lisbon, in the intense silence, was replaying last night in her mind. Over and over and over. Crying. Reaching for the phone. Telling Jane she needed him. She knew she didn't have a choice. She had come too far to back up and out.

"You always have a choice, Teresa," he whispered. "I would never force you to do something you don't want to do. I only want to help," he finally said, breaking the silence and shattering it with his rough whisper.

She broke eye contact with him and cleared her throat. He was wrong. She didn't have much of a choice. The other option was too much to bear. She'd been reliving the darkness in her sleep for years. She was so tired. Beaten down. Worn out. She didn't really like the arrangement he proposed, but there wasn't another option. How long could she go on with this? Last night, she had broken down on the phone. She'd burst and finally let the nightmare win. She was so, so tired. So very weary.

The only thing that worked and gave her peace and a decent night's sleep was Jane lying next to her. She didn't know why or understand how he could drive the dream from her mind when she closed her eyes, but he did. Perhaps it was his touch? Maybe it was just down to her feeling safe in his arms? Whatever the reason, he made her nights better. Not in the way she had expected, of course. Not that she expected to...

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, dragging her from her disconnected thoughts.

"If I do agree to this...compromise of yours, what do you get out of it? What's in it for you?" A legitimate question, she thought.

"I don't know, yet," said Jane truthfully. "It won't be anything insensible or anything."

Didn't he know what he wanted in return? Odd. She always looked at him as knowing exactly what he wanted and being straight and honest with saying so. She wasn't very comforted by the fact he considered his future request to be noble in intentions. He literally wasn't the most aristocratic person when it came to his personal wants.

"And this will remain strictly a business agreement, right?"

He cocked his head at her and beamed. "What else would it be?"

She chose not to answer that. "Okay. But I have demands."

"Do tell," he said, chuckling.

"First, you stay on your side," she said. "Or at least make an attempt to."

"I can't control that," he answered. "If I could, I'd respect your boundaries, Teresa."

"We'll figure it out, somehow."

"Second?" He was piqued now.

 _Keep your morning bodily functions to yourself_ , she wanted to say but didn't. Instead, she crawled out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom. Before she got to the door, she turned toward him and attempted to straighten her shirt that had bunched up around her waist. It bunched up again, showing some skin. She left it alone. She was nervous and a little flustered by their deal.

"When I wake up, you leave," she told him. "Just leave. Don't say anything at all. Just leave."

He looked a little hurt at her request, but nodded his blond curls and lifted himself from the bed. He slowly crossed the gap between them and stopped directly in front of her. He reached out and pulled the bottom hem of her shirt down, smoothing it against her hip.

She froze in place. The exhale that was working its way out of her mouth caught and her eyes swelled. He had touched her like that just minutes before, but this touch was different. She actually felt shock waves from his hand brushing the small patch of skin showing on her waist. It was like a hot poker had been applied to the flesh where his fingers had ghosted.

"Deal," he told her, exploding her frozen body with heat so that she could finally move and breathe. "I'll attempt to stay on my side, and I will leave when you wake up. No morning greetings, even."

"You gave me one of those greetings this morning," she blurted out, not thinking she should keep that to herself. It was already embarrassing enough.

"Huh?" he asked in puzzlement.

"Nothing," she told him. "You can leave now."

"Uh." He removed his hand from her shirt. "Yeah. Right. Goodbye, Teresa," he said quickly.

She watched as he turned from her and exited the room, not looking back. She exhaled sharply after he was gone. What the hell was she even doing? Why was she allowing this? _Oh, right._ Because she needed some decent sleep. But she couldn't allow him to touch her whenever he felt like it. She needed to keep her distance from him. It was nearly impossible with their arrangement, but she'd have to just figure out a way.

She had to keep this from becoming something else. She didn't want the tension to get worse, but that was a deflated idea. He was going to be spending his nights in her bed, for God's sake! They had woken up two mornings in a row stuck together like glue. This morning, she even felt his erection poking her! What kind of tension-filled relationship was going to withstand that? She had a feeling it was the kind that tore two friends apart. Even if it wasn't sleeping with her in the sexual sense, just him in her bed was enough to push that tension bubble, as he was finding out.

 _Friends._ She kept calling him a friend. Outwardly, it appeared that was a justifiable word for them. Inwardly, she wasn't so sure. Damn her feelings and damn her heart! The truth was she enjoyed his warmth and his body in her bed, so close to her that he could touch her in places she secretly wished he would. But she couldn't let him in. She couldn't give in to her wishes. It wasn't good. Not since she had a lot of anger toward him that she hadn't yet expressed. She needed to keep her distance, and she would.

She shook her head and turned into the bathroom, closing the door on the thought of Jane sleeping with her. She turned on the shower and decided she needed to cool off the poker hot feeling he sent through her with his graceful fingers.

What _did_ he want from her, anyway? That is what was circling in his brain as he pretended to be interested in the meeting Cho was throwing about the case they caught the other day. Frankly, he didn't remember a time when he was less interested in being the smartest person in the room and devising a plan to capture the suspect like a caged rabbit.

Right now, he was trying to understand Teresa Lisbon, who was studiously ignoring him from across the room. He couldn't read her at all. Not since he came back from the island. Well, he never could read her well, but he could at least guess what she was thinking. Now, however, she was better at hiding it.

Giving mixed signals. Yes. That was it. She was short-circuiting his brain. One time she was crying on the phone asking him to come over and comfort her, and the next she was telling him she accepted his offer, but he had to leave when she woke up. Then there were the looks she gave him that suggested that him being in love with her might not be all there was. It may, in fact, be reciprocated. He just didn't know which Teresa he was dealing with and it was very hard for him to accept that she was an unfinished puzzle and he was searching for the last piece before the picture was finished.

"You coming to Friday drinks?" Rigsby asked him after the meeting, distracting him from his inner thoughts. "Cho's buying tonight!"

It was a tradition they politely included Jane in on since he got back. Every Friday, they would go to Morley's bar and load up on shots and beer since they didn't work the weekends. He'd always loved it. He went almost every Friday just for the company.

"I can't," Jane told Rigsby, standing and stealing a glance over at Lisbon who was still ignoring him and talking to Van Pelt at her desk.

"You have a hot date or something?" asked Rigsby, his eyebrow curving. "You never miss a Friday, Jane."

"Date?" Jane repeated, blinking oddly at the tall Agent. "No. "

Rigsby looked at him suspiciously, but shrugged his shoulders and walked away, humming some song out of tune. Jane really didn't notice Rigsby's look of suspicion. Instead, he was gathering an idea in his head. He smiled to himself as he watched Lisbon leave Van Pelt and walk toward the kitchen area. No doubt she was getting more coffee.

She was obviously embarrassed by their arrangement, and a little angry that she needed this from him, too. Maybe to loosen her up he'd have to resort to something a little different. Spending hours in a bed with someone you aren't sleeping sexually with wasn't exactly weird, but neither was it commonplace. Maybe if he got her to relax more around him, she'd stop being so angry and resentful about their ... partnership during their nights. Maybe dinner and conversation would ease the ever growing tension. _Maybe_. Maybe she'd stop sending him mixed signals and they could actually work this out to benefit them both. Being in love with her was easy. Trying to maintain the boundary between friendship and wanting more was not so easy. Perhaps dinner would give him a better read. He didn't know. But he was going to push his luck if he had to. Besides, he considered himself a gentleman. All gentleman make sure to take the lady out before he sleeps with her.

He raised himself from his couch, looked around to make sure nobody else was heading toward the kitchen, then made his way through the bullpen and into the small room. His eyes fell on her as she was hovering over the coffee pot, her back turned away from him.

"I want you to come with me, tonight," he said, scaring her and making her jump in the air.

She hissed in pain as hot coffee dripped out of the mug and splashed on her knuckles. She turned to him as she shook her burnt hand and narrowed her eyes at Jane.

Jane walked over to her and took her burnt hand in his, reaching around her for the paper towels in the dispenser on the counter. He pressed them to her knuckles and looked up at her with apologies in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Teresa," he breathed. "I didn't mean to scare you." He kept his hand on hers as he dabbed gently at the angry, red splotches where the coffee had dropped.

"What do you want, Jane?" she snapped, trying to remove her hand from his grip.

"I wanted to invite you to dinner with me tonight," said Jane.

"Like a date?" Lisbon snorted. "No, thanks."

"Don't be so dismissive, Teresa!" he snapped back, growing tired of her attitude. "You're making this much more difficult than it's intended to be. I mean as friends, Teresa. It's not every day that I sleep in a women's bed that I haven't taken out at least once."

She clicked her tongue and sighed. "We— _you_ aren't sleeping in my bed the way you did the others." She tried to pull her hand from his grip again but was unsuccessful. "I don't need a meal to know it's just necessity of the situation."

"Work with me, Teresa," he said exasperatedly. "Allow me to be a gentleman? Even if it _is_ an innocent arrangement, I would like to take you somewhere. Just as friends, I promise. Friends go out to eat, don't they?" He smiled sweetly at her.

"Dinner?" she asked in a hush, fearful someone may come in at any moment. "You really want to take me to dinner so you feel more like a gentleman about sleeping in my bed with me?"

"Yes," he replied. "Besides, you've been through a lot and I want to take you out. I don't think you've been out to dinner in a long time, Teresa. It'll be a favor to you, too."

"Don't you usually go with Cho and Rigs to Morley's on Friday's?"

"Stop making excuses, Teresa. My nights are officially booked." His eyebrow arched up. "Apparently, I'm your Mr. Sandman."

He saw her expression flash something quickly in her eyes before changing back to her hard, moody mask. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Usually, when she rolled her eyes at him, he knew she was giving in. He wasn't surprised when this was exactly the case.

"Fine," she responded. "Dinner."

He noticed that she looked so much better now that she was getting good sleep at night. Her eyes were lighter and greener, her skin was getting more olive complected, and she just looked much better to him. Not as she had just two days ago at the crime scene.

"Thank you," he told her. "I'll be by your apartment at about eight." He smiled at her, brought her burnt hand to his lips and kissed the splotches he had accidentally caused. "Wear something nice. Sorry about your hand." He dropped her hand and turned away from her astonished face before she could change her mind about dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Back with a new update! I know, I know, it has been a while, but for those who don't know, my mother died a while back and things have been hard for me. It's been a hard road, so please don't be upset I am not updating in an appropriate amount of time. I promise to try to be better. I know it's frustrating. Thank you and enjoy. If you enjoy this tale, please check out my new fic, Faultlines. Also, thank you to those who leave reviews. I don't answer them (I do everything on my tablet nowadays) but I really, really appreciate it!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

"What are you even doing?" she said to herself, putting the stud of her earring through her earlobe and shaking her head. "This is stupid."

But absolutely Patrick Jane. And, if she was being honest with herself, completely acceptable. She just hated having to do anything else with Jane before he warmed her bed and kept the dreams away. Selfishness. It was just her selfish need to keep him as far from her as possible when he wasn't fulfilling his duty to her. Duty to her? _Really_? He owed her nothing.

She checked herself out in the mirror. Not bad. Not too pretentious. She was dressed in a little black maxi dress with a lace bodice, red high heels, and her hair was in one of those soft, curly ponytails that floated at the tops of her thin shoulders. The dress was casual enough for a dinner date with Jane, but could undoubtedly be seen as sexy and flirty, too. It was the best dress she owned. She wondered if the reason she chose to wear it was because it drew attention to her body. Maybe it was too pretentious after all for a casual "friends only" dinner. She nearly decided to change the dress into something less showy when she heard him knocking on her apartment door.

"Well," she said, taking one last glance at herself in the mirror. "Here goes." She suddenly felt nervous. Her facial expression matched that with a lick of her lipstick stained lips.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she shut off her bathroom light and made her way downstairs. She opened her apartment door and found Jane standing on the stoop in his three-piece pinstripe suit. The suit was obviously new, as was the white shirt beneath. She stared down at his brown shoes. Those were still old and worn. His hair was slicked back, his soft curls sticking out haphazardly against his temples. She couldn't help but feel a flutter deep in her chest. He looked quite handsome. His unwavering gaze raking over her was met by Lisbon clearing her throat and stepping aside for him to come in.

She turned and was immediately aware that Jane was very, very close to her. Lisbon stepped back and pointed a finger at his attire. A smile played just at the edges of her mouth.

"Nice. They're new?"

He tore his eyes away from her green ones reluctantly and looked down at his clothes, using his hand to tug on the lapel of his jacket. "I thought you'd like it," he told her. "You look especially beautiful, Teresa. Do you know that?" His eyes found hers once again and flashed behind his bluish-green irises.

"I do," she told him in a short whisper. "Like the suit, I mean."

"Good to know," he replied. "I've made reservations. We should get going."

Reservations? Most places needed at least two days' notice for reservations. She pushed that thought from her mind and nodded her head. She reached over and grabbed her purse from the table beside the door.

"Ready when you are," she told Jane.

She moved in front of him and felt his hand on her back as they exited her apartment. The tingling of this innocent touch sent ripples up her spine. She thought he could feel her tremble slightly because his hand fell away abruptly.

The car ride was quiet for the ten minutes they had driven so far. From her spot in the passenger seat, Lisbon was deliberately looking out the window at everything passing by in blurs and muted colors and disregarding Jane. Not ignoring him because she was mad at him. No. Ignoring him because the damn butterflies in her chest wouldn't leave.

"I've been thinking," Jane said, breaking the silence. "About our arrangement."

"Oh?" She didn't look away from the window. "What about it? Figure out what you want in return?"

His soft tinkle of a laugh made her turn to him. He inclined his head and glanced over at her. "No. Not that."

"Don't you think it's odd that you don't know what you want? You usually know," she said, unable to stop it from slipping from her slightly parted lips.

"I don't think so, Teresa. It isn't exactly the priority," he replied. "You are. And anyway, when I figure it out, I will tell you."

"Okay, so what were you thinking, then?" She turned her attention to his impassive face. A mask of flesh and bone.

"I'll tell you over dinner," he said. "We're here."

 _He tore through the old, decrepit house as quickly as he could. Stumbling over collapsed furniture and junk piled high, he swept himself through each room, his eyes looking for something particular. Something he didn't even want to find._

 _He couldn't even scream. His throat didn't work. His chest nearly pressed in on itself. He had scanned the first two rooms that branched off from the hall but had come up empty. He was approaching the last room, and the silence was nearly deafening. The door was wide open. Almost as if taunting him._

 _He stepped inside and could see a body on the floor. NO! It can't be her! His eyes drifted past the corpse on the floor onto a dirty mattress in the corner, half-hidden by shadows. His heart sank as he ran toward her, hurdling over the body on the floor. He sank to his knees beside her and automatically reached a hand out to touch her cheek. Still warm. A small surge of hope rose in him as his fingers from his other hand drifted down and clasped her wrist, feeling for a pulse._

 _Patrick Jane didn't believe in God, but he sure as hell prayed to something as he waited to feel the blood racing through Teresa Lisbon's veins. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds, he could feel it. He sighed in such relief that his lungs hurt. It wasn't until he was sure she was alive that he looked closer at her face and saw the blood staining her porcelain skin._

 _He felt the rage swell in him. He took the fingertips that were against her cheek and felt the blood. Sticky and fresh. It wasn't hers; his eyes raked over her body and there were no marks on her that he could see. He glanced back at the body on the floor and realized it had come from them. He sighed a breath of relief that it wasn't hers._

 _He took out his cell phone from his vest pocket and dialed 911. He gave the dispatcher on the other end the information that he knew. He had gotten the address from Van Pelt, who had tapped Lisbon's phone. He stayed on the phone with the dispatcher until he could hear the sirens in the distance. Once he knew help was coming, he hung up and pressed a palm to her hair._

 _"You're going to be fine," he told the unconscious woman. "I promise you that. I'm so sorry, Teresa. So sorry."_

 _Though she was unconscious, he took her hand in his and said the only three words that mattered. The three words he had taken back before. He would never have to take these back because he was the only one who would know he said them._

 _"I love you."_

He snapped himself out of the memory as they were being seated in a private booth. It seemed so long ago now. He still hadn't said those words directly to her, and the way her moods were changing with him, he didn't know if he ever would.

"Nice place," Lisbon commented, sliding into the booth and looking around at the restaurant, abuzz with people and soft music.

"It is," Jane answered. "They serve a very nice fried fish."

Lisbon nodded her head and lifted the menu, opening it and disappearing behind it. Jane cleared his throat and watched her intensely, not bothering to pick up his own menu. Lisbon looked over her menu at him and put it down flat when she saw him staring at her.

"What?" she asked, closing the menu and pushing it to the side of the table. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Because I have things to discuss with you," said Jane. "I have my own demands about our deal."

He didn't feel like beating around the bush. He was met with a shocked looking Teresa, her mouth agape, and her eyes searching his to see if he was playing with her. When she saw he wasn't, she scoffed at him.

"You're not serious?" she asked.

"Oh, but I am," he responded, lifting his napkin and placing it on his lap. "Please hear me out?"

She went silent and lifted an eyebrow for him to go on. She wasn't very happy that he was using his own arrangement—one he knew she needed—to throw around his own wants. Couldn't he have said something at work? Or how about before he left her house this morning? Why now?

"First, I can't sleep in my suits all the time. They get all... bunchy." He motioned with his hands. "Plus, they are hot to sleep in. At the CBI, the air conditioner is usually good enough. I want to sleep in regular pajamas, Teresa. Keep them at your place?"

Lisbon clicked her tongue. Leaning forward, she grabbed her glass of lemon water and took a small gulp, staring at him the entire time. She set the glass down and shrugged a slender shoulder.

"Fine," she told him. "I'm not a heartless woman. Besides, your vest buttons poke me in the back and your belt jabs me."

She could see from the look on his face that this demand had gone better than he thought. She felt uneasy, though, because she felt another one coming. She had a few minutes' reprieve when the waiter came by to take their orders. Once the waiter left to bring their ordered drinks, Jane leaned forward and smiled at her.

She hated his smile. It always made her heart flutter and her mouth want to crinkle in a Grinch-like curl to mimic his infectious grin. She hated that she loved it so much. It also made her nervous because Patrick Jane used that same smile to charm his way into situations to benefit himself many times. It was his ticket to the show in which he made himself the star.

"Thank you," he said. "Second, please stop hitting me to wake me up. I think you cracked a rib." He reached down and put a hand to his rib wincing in pain convincingly though Lisbon knew he was just making a point.

She nodded, agreeing non-verbally to his condition. She did feel pity for hurting him. She wasn't used to a man in her bed since... well, she just wasn't used to it.

Their food arrived with their drinks, and the talk of demands subsided. Most of the conversation as they ate centered on Lisbon trying to explain her attempts to stop the dream problem, their deal and what it meant to her health, and ventured into other topics like Lisbon's decision not to seek out a therapist and Jane's analysis of why (Jane claimed they were frauds, so it was good she didn't seek one out), to Jane's unwavering ability to piss off people and his ever-growing personnel file filled with complaints.

It was refreshing to just talk like they did before he left. The tension between them—especially on Lisbon's side—faded away as they laughed and ate. It was almost like a date between two romantically linked people. She got lost in his eyes quite a bit, often finding herself staring and smiling as he talked. Keeping Patrick Jane at arm's length was something that wasn't far from her mind, but she often found herself forgetting this fact and thinking of Jane as someone she was attracted to. Oh, and she was. But he'd never hear her say it. He wouldn't even see it in her eyes, she thought. She'd learned to put up a mask during his two-year exile, but especially after he came back. She had learned to lie and lie well.

When their food was nearly gone, they pushed their plates aside and Jane asked for the check. He looked at Lisbon and put a hand to his neck, rubbing vigorously. A notorious sign that he was nervous and unsure. Lisbon wasn't oblivious to this little detail. She knew he was back to his demands. She didn't think he was done. She was right.

"I have one other request, Teresa," he stated, his voice quiet as he tapped his thumb on the table with the hand that had been on his neck. "It would make things easier."

"Spill it, Jane," Lisbon told him irritably. "Don't postpone it with explanations."

"Let me move in with you," he said simply.

She looked at him with widened eyes and nearly laughed. Move in with her? Was he kidding? Did he take Belladonna again? Share her apartment with Patrick Jane? She couldn't! She wouldn't! What would the team say if they found out? Why was this easier? She only needed him during the night. She shook her head at him.

"No!" she told him. "You can't move in! What would that look like, Jane?"

"Nobody would know, Teresa," he said, leaning back into the booth. "I won't tell, and I know you won't. Besides, what would it look like just with our arrangement? It looks like I am your gentleman caller, Teresa."

She looked at him with disbelief. He was serious. He actually wanted to share her home. "I can't."

"You could," he replied, his voice raising a small octave. "But you won't."

"No," she agreed. "I won't."

"Teresa, it would make—"

"NO," she interjected. "You can't. The arrangement we have now is fine. You coming over to my apartment at night is enough!"

"I'd still leave after you woke up, Teresa. I'll head to work before anyone comes in and sees me gone. It is just easier if I stay there. I don't have to come by late at night every night. I'd already be there."

"I don't _want_ you in my house unless you are helping me with my problem, Jane. Or we can just forget it, and I can go back to sleep deprivation!"

He looked at her with a serious face. His eyes flashed anger and his mouth was a thin line. "You know I'd never let that happen to you again, Teresa."

He was looking at her and something dawned on him as he assessed her resistance. He couldn't see it before in all her mixed signals to him, but now that she was open and raw in anger, he could see it plain as day. Her mask crumbled for a few seconds. Enough time for him to analyze her emotions.

"Teresa," he called softly. "What are you hiding from me?"

"I am not hiding a damn thing!" she said snidely.

"Something happened the two years I was gone, didn't it? What happened, Teresa? What aren't you telling me?" he pressed.

"Nothing happened, Jane," she said a little too quickly. "Just let it go."

"You're lying," Jane told her. "You've been hard to read lately because you've been so moody with me, but you are definitely lying to me now, Teresa Lisbon." He was getting angry at her deception. "I want to help you, but you've been distant and cold toward me for a while. I ignored it because I thought you needed time, but damn it, Lisbon! It's been two years!" He pushed a hand through his slick hair. "Two years and you haven't spoken a word about it. Not how you felt, nothing! I get it. Teresa. I came back and we pretended that nothing changed or happened. I get that. But you are pulling me in different directions." He was raising his voice to her in frustration. " _Talk to me_!"

"You don't know what it was like! Those two years! When I—" She stopped herself and shook her head to gain her control back. "Take me home. I want to go home, Jane." She stood. "And then you can go sleep on your couch at the CBI for all I care! You're sure the hell not sleeping in my bed! I'll suffer!"

He watched her stomp out of the restaurant, her heels clicking against the tile floor angrily. The fact she had gotten so angry only proved his own suspicion. She was hiding something from him. But what did that have to do with his request? He thought it was simple enough. It would be easier for him and he wouldn't have to come over late at night and have her let him in. Something happened in the two years he was gone. He was convinced of it. Now he had an angry woman to contend with.

Jane got up from the booth, placed cash to cover their meals in the billfold, and followed her out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

The silence was nearly deafening as he pulled up to her apartment. She hadn't spoken to him since they left the restaurant. He hadn't wanted to upset her, but she frustrated him. Something else was going on. Whatever it was, it was the reason she snapped at him during dinner over a simple request and the reason for her bitterness and tension with him since he came back from exile a year ago. Something changed while he was away. But what? And why was she keeping it under wraps from him?

"Teresa, please don't be stubborn," he told her, as he followed her up the stairs to her apartment. "Don't make yourself suffer because you're angry at me."

"Go away, Jane!" She replied stubbornly, unlocking her door and slamming it in his face.

Jane heard the lock click into place and he sighed. He'd pissed her off was what he did. He turned around and walked slowly down the stairs. He got back in his car, but he didn't bother to leave. Instead, he took out his cell phone and dialed Rigsby's number.

"Are you still at Morley's?" Jane asked though with the music thumping in the background, he didn't have to really get an answer. "My plans stalled."

He would let Lisbon cool off. He would go to Morley's bar and have a drink or two with the guys and then go from there. He listened to Rigsby tell him that they were indeed at Morley's and that they'd order his drink for him awhile.

"Thanks, Wayne. I can't stay till midnight, tonight," he told the agent, "but I can knock back a few. I'll be there soon."

He hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket. There was another reason he wanted to go to the bar after all. Rigsby was a talker once he got a few drinks in him. There was a good chance that if Jane happened to ask him about Lisbon's life during his two-year separation from the team, he just might give up some interesting details.

He hated doing this. He never liked dishonesty when it came to betraying Teresa with her private life. It wasn't any of his business. But he just couldn't help himself. Asking her directly had yielded nothing, so this was his only other option. Using his skills on her wasn't working because she learned tricks to block him out.

Ten minutes later, Jane was walking through the noisy, stuffy bar toward the table in the back that was a regular spot for Cho, Rigsby, and Jane. He spotted them easily and greeted them, sitting down and picking up his beer that was waiting for him.

"Hey! Didn't think you were going to make it! Rigsby thought you had a date," Cho told him, taking a sip of his own beer.

"No, not a date," he replied, smiling. "Anyway, I'm here now."

"So then where did you go? What's more important than a beer with friends?" Rigsby teased.

"I had some business to attend to," said Jane. "It stalled, so here I am."

"You really need to get out in the dating world, my friend," Rigsby ribbed. "There is a whole big world out there. Be alive to thrive!"

"Where did you get that one from? Therapy?" Cho cracked.

"No," Rigsby said as he took a long swig of his beer and looked away. "Maybe."

"I don't want anybody, Wayne," Jane told him. But her, he thought to himself simultaneously.

"I just think you're picky," Rigsby replied, laughing.

"Perhaps." Jane didn't deny this. There was only one woman who had what he needed and wanted, and right now she was pissed off. Royally.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Cho said, lapping the last of his beer before rising from the table. "Always makes my bladder explode."

Jane watched Cho head off to the bathroom and turned his attention on a slightly inebriated Rigsby. Jane sipped his beer slowly and looked at Rigsby, who was nodding in tune with the music. He debated not asking Wayne, but it was too late. He already had it in his mind and there was no letting it go.

"Wayne," Jane started out. "When I was gone those two years, did anything...change?"

"Change?" Rigsby asked, a look of confusion crossing his face. "What do you mean?"

Jane merely shrugged. "Well, did anything happen with any of the team? Anything major or...?"

"Not really." Rigsby screwed his face up in thought. "Cho became the boss after Bertram was canned, Lisbon was demoted because of...you know...the Red John fiasco. Uh... We got a new partner named Riley Dallon. Why?"

"Partner? For Cho?" Jane was now very curious.

"No, Lisbon," he answered. "He was her, uh, partner until about two months before you came back," he said.

"What happened to him?"

"Transferred out of the unit. Went to Sac PD," Rigsby told him. "He, uh... yeah. Well, yeah..."

He could see by Rigsby's face there was something else he wanted to say but refrained when he saw Cho coming back to the table. Jane looked at him and knew this could be the potential reason for Lisbon's "at a distance" behavior toward him. But what did this Riley guy have to do with it? Did she date him? Was there a problem professionally between them?

Jane suddenly felt very jealous. There was no reason to be, and he didn't even know if this was her reasoning for her moodiness, but he couldn't help but feel the jealousy coursing through his veins. Someone else had been her partner in his exiled absence. A man, no less.

"You okay, Jane?" Cho asked. "You look funny."

Jane plastered on his fake smile and took one last sip of his beer. He stood and reached into his pocket for a few bucks to pay for his nearly full beer.

"Yeah, fine," he said. "Going to call it a night, fellas. I've got to get back to this business thing and work it out."

He didn't wait for them to say anything further though he could see their confused faces, unsure what was going on with him lately. He turned and walked back through the crowd, his mind wandering. He didn't know if he'd ask her about this partner she had or not. He only knew how he felt about it. How irrationally upset it made him. It upset him more that Lisbon had chosen not to tell him. And the team choosing not telling him themselves only added to his mood. They seemed to be covering for her.

* * *

She put on her long nightshirt and burrowed down in her bed. It had been nearly two hours since she had slammed the door in Jane's face. She was too angry to care whether or not he kept the bad dream away. She didn't want him in her bed and certainly not in her house.

She had given into his first two demands easily. They were entirely reasonable. His request, as he called it, to move into her apartment with her was beyond reasonable. Having Patrick Jane living in her house was not a good idea. It just wasn't. He had picked up on something she had been trying to hide from him and had successfully done so for nearly three years.

It wasn't long before she heard someone creaking up her stairs. She didn't even have to turn around. She knew who it was immediately. She rolled her eyes and didn't turn around as she heard him enter the room.

"Remind me to confiscate that goddamn lock pick of yours," she said, pulling her cover closer to herself. "Didn't I tell you to go sleep on your beat up couch?"

She was met with silence for a minute, but then felt him lift the cover and slide himself into her bed. She felt him press up against her and place a warm hand on her upper arm. She tried to move her arm so his hand slid off, but she didn't make much of an effort and she let it go.

"You know I wouldn't let you hurt yourself out of anger for me, Teresa," he told her softly, his lips close to her ear. "You can turn me in for breaking and entering if you want."

Despite her being angry with him, she smiled a small smile in the dark and sighed. "What good will you be to me in jail?"

"I'm sorry I upset you, Teresa," he apologized. "Maybe asking you so soon wasn't the best idea."

She lifted her head and turned back to him. "You shouldn't be asking at all! This isn't a domestic contract!"

"Teresa, we work together most of the day, anyway. Then you come home for a few hours and then I show up here during the night. We practically live together already!"

"Why are you so insistent on this, Jane? It doesn't make sense! Where did this come from?"

"Why are you so insistent in saying no, Teresa?" he shot back. "What exactly are you afraid of?"

She reached over, pulled on the lamp to light up the room and sat up, shaking his hand from her skin as she leaned her back against the headboard. She saw him pull himself up, and noticed that he was not wearing a shirt. She tried to keep her eyes on his face, but she felt them flicker to the muscles on his chest almost absentmindedly tracing the contours before gazing back to his face.

"Nothing," she told him. "Is this going to turn into some kind of debate tonight? Because if so, you can just leave," she added irritably.

"Why won't you tell me what happened while I was gone, Lisbon? Why won't you talk to me about it?" he asked softly.

He didn't want to bring up what Rigsby had told him. He decided that he would leave that alone and let her tell him about that if she wanted to. Right now, he just wanted to calm her down.

She shook her head at him. "Because it has nothing to do with you. You left. Why would you give a damn what happened while you were living it up while we were here picking up the pieces you left us?"

He laughed darkly. "Okay. I guess that's a fair question. I wasn't living it up! I had no choice, Teresa. None. And I do care what you did while I was gone. I care about you."

"You had a choice!" She was yelling now. "You chose the wrong one that had you leaving me. So don't give me this crap that you care about me!"

"I came back for you, Teresa," he reminded her, his voice rising to match hers. "I came back because..." he trailed off, hating himself for what he was going to reveal. "Because I realized how lonely I was. The team was— _is_ my family."

That did nothing to quell her irritability. She narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips.

"One day you just decided to take the offer you were given just to come home to us?" she scoffed. "Oh, well! Two years gone, forgiven!"

"I came home to you," he corrected. "Yes."

She was silent for a moment. She was staring at him and he was staring at her. Both were so close to each other they could count the eyelashes on their eyelids. She watched Jane's eyes flick to her lips and back up, his breathing uneven.

"Teresa," he whispered, moving closer to her, his face so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Teresa, I—"

"Goodnight, Jane," she interrupted him, turning quickly away from him. She burrowed back down under her covers, rolled over, and turned the light off.

It was a few minutes before she felt him ease in behind her, placing his hand on her upper arm again. He had been leaning in to kiss her and she had wanted him to. It took all her might to move away from him. Every single ounce of strength to pull away and leave him there, his mouth slightly open and his body nearly caving into hers. She was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say. And she couldn't let him. She wouldn't allow him in.

She knew he was still awake behind her, and she could feel the breathing on her neck as he held her close to himself, driving the dreams he knew she'd have away.

Finally, with her last bit of strength to stay awake fading, she drifted off to sleep. A peaceful sleep she's only gotten with Patrick Jane in her bed.

* * *

It was late the next morning when he first felt her stir. He had been watching her sleep for the past hour and a half. She had kicked off the covers, and her nightshirt had ridden up, exposing her milky, bare thigh to him, which he would never dispute enjoying. He wanted to recover her, but he was afraid of waking her. She was also face-to-face with him.

Jane traced the smoothness of her forehead, the bridge of her small, freckled nose and the fullness of her slightly parted lips with his eyes. He wanted to reach out and feel the warmth of her lips on his fingers, but he refrained. Instead. he chose to watch her silently, bringing his fingertips up to caress the apple of her cheekbone.

He was thinking of last night. He had nearly kissed her. If she would have let him, he was sure he would have taken her soft, pink lips against his and set her body on fire. He was also about to admit his love for her. He was falling in love with her even more than before. Even though she was pushing him further from her and she had her secrets from him, he was falling hard and fast for the women lying next to him. A pull toward her that was tugging hard. And, if any indication of her nearly letting him kiss her was anything to go by, she was feeling something for him, too.

His free hand was tracing her spine with his fingers, and her own hands were pressed against his chest in two tight fists, the feel of her on his bare skin nearly sizzled him raw. He loved the feel of her against him. The way her legs trapped around his and tangled there. He loved the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the small moans she made during sleep. He loved lying in bed with her. He wished it was because they had made love together, but he'd take this to nothing.

He smiled as her eyes fluttered open sleepily. "Jane?"

"Yeah," he said softly, nearly groaning in protest as her hands left his chest. "I know. I'll go," he told her, remembering her request.

"Stay," she whispered. "Don't go."

Jane looked down at her in confusion before realizing that Lisbon was talking in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered back shut and she rolled on her back, her shirt riding up even more, to her navel, and showing the pink cotton underneath. Jane took a quick peek at her before reaching over to pull her shirt down, effectively covering her up.

It was as he was pushing a strand of stray hair from her forehead that he heard a noise from downstairs. It sounded like Lisbon's apartment door opening, He was going to alert Lisbon to the fact someone was breaking into her house when they called out from downstairs, cutting off his attempt.

"Teresa?" the male voice called. "You up?"

He turned to Lisbon, but she was already waking up on her own upon hearing the shout from downstairs. He watched as she blinked swiftly and jostled herself so she could frantically sit up and look at the alarm clock on the table beside her.

"Oh, God!" she said, climbing out from under the covers. "I've overslept! I'm used to being up already! Oh, no! God, no!"

Jane watched as she ran to the bedroom door and shouted down the stairs.

"I'll be down in a second!" She turned back to Jane and shook her head at him. "You have to stay up here, Jane!"

Jane blinked at her. "Who is that?"

"Promise me you'll stay up here?" she nearly begged. "I can't believe I overslept! Please?"

"I promise," Jane said. "But who is that guy?"

He wasn't even asking in possessiveness. He was asking because he has never seen her like this. She was neurotic and insistent. She was already running around looking for her clothes to dress in. He was concerned.

"Teresa," Jane pressed her, uncovering himself and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Who is this guy in your house?"

"I'm her husband," the voice called from her bedroom doorway. "What is going on here?"

* * *

 **A/N: This was the lovely and talented Mayzee when I originally wrote it, and her encouragement to keep writing it pushed me to finish it. So this goes back out to her (though she has her own copy of it now on her computer, lol). Hope you enjoyed the little twist at the end. More is coming.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Please enjoy. Please remember this was written about a year and a half ago, and my skills have improved. Thank you for any and all feedback, both positive and negative. Any passion you give in reviews means the story made some kind of impact, which is my goal. For those who review, thanks so much! It is appreciated.**

* * *

 **THREE YEARS AGO**

* * *

"I'm Riley Dallon," said the sandy-haired man in a dark blue suit. "You must be my new partner, Teresa Lisbon. Cho said I could find you here and you'd show me the ropes."

He held out his hand to her, and she shook it and smiled a professional smile at him. Cho had told her she'd be getting a new partner, citing Jane's disappearance as a shortcoming with the team. With Jane gone, they needed all the help they could get on the cases that were piling up. They didn't get closed as fast as they once did.

Riley Dallon was a very handsome man. His deep-set green eyes rounded out his strong jaw and chin. He was perfectly chiseled in the face and features. He was slender and tall. He reminded Lisbon, almost instantaneously, of Jane. He had an air of confidence to him and he had a smile that was infectious.

"Hi," she replied. "I'm Teresa Lisbon. Nice to meet you!"

She showed him around the bullpen, introduced him to Rigsby and Van Pelt, and told him where he could find the kitchen, bathrooms and where he could locate the rooftop café. He thanked her and turned his attention to just behind them. Lisbon turned and followed his gaze. The old brown leather sofa was still in the same spot it was when Jane left that fateful day seven months ago.

"You guys have a couch in here?" Riley laughed. "Wow! I like this place already."

"Uh," Lisbon turned back to him, suddenly stony-faced. "We don't use it anymore. Nobody can use it."

"Oh." His gaze fell back to her. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't aware."

Lisbon put on her best smile and shook her head at the young, handsome agent. "It's okay. It belongs ... it was our colleague's. He wouldn't like anyone sitting on it."

He looked at her and his wide smile returned. "Well, I suppose there is a really long story about it, so I will save my questions for later."

Lisbon laughed softly at that and pointed to his desk. "That's yours. If you need anything else, please let me know."

"Thank you, Agent Lisbon. I can see I am going to like it here already."

She pretended not to notice him sneaking peeks at her every chance he got, and she pretended not to notice how her heart jumped every time he did. Half the day went by as they worked leads and followed up paperwork. Really boring stuff. With Jane gone, nothing exciting happened much anymore.

It was lunchtime when he approached her and asked if she could show him how to get to the rooftop café. She told him where it was, but not how to specifically get there.

"It's just up the stairs across from the elevator, then turn right and you will see a hallway and a door leading outside," she explained.

He started to walk toward the stairs, but turned himself around and walked back to her. He sighed and licked his lips. Lisbon stared at him until he started to speak again, thinking he might have forgotten her instructions already.

"Would it be too presumptuous if I asked you to join me for lunch? You can tell me about that couch over there that seems to have an interesting story attached," he offered her.

She had the urge to say no. She just wasn't ready for this. Wasn't ready for anyone to enter her life. One had just exited and tore her heart out. She saw the look on Riley's face and decided that she could go this once. It was his first day, after all. Besides, maybe after she tells him about Patrick Jane and the couch, maybe he'd find her insane and that would drive him away. Then she could pine after the man who left her without interference.

Or maybe she'd find solace in Riley Dallon. Either way, she wanted to be friendly, at least.

"Okay," she nodded her head at him. "Sure. Lunch."

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY**

* * *

Lisbon closed her eyes and wished that when she opened them, she'd wake up from this nightmare. She wasn't talking about the one in which Jane drove away with the heat of his body every night. No. This was the nightmare that was unfolding before her very eyes. The one in which the two main men in her life were meeting.

It was an incredibly intense feeling. She had tried to avoid this for such a long time, and now that it was happening, there was a rather odd sense of relief about it. She opened her eyes and flickered her gaze from the man in her bedroom doorway to the man rising slowly from her bed. Both men were regarding the other with immediate dislike.

"Husband?" a clearly shocked Jane asked, eyeing the sandy-haired, green-eyed man standing with his arms crossed and narrowed eyes. "You—you're _married_?" He turned his dazed face to Lisbon and pointed to him. "To _this_ guy?"

"Teresa, why is he half-naked in your bed?" the sandy-haired man asked, turning to Lisbon. "You fucking my wife?" he asked, turning back to Jane.

Lisbon held up her hands toward both of them and sighed. "Okay! Okay! Tone down the testosterone. Patrick Jane, this is my husband, Riley Dallon. We are _finalizing_ our divorce. We're legally separated," Lisbon explained. "Riley, this is—"

"Patrick Jane," Riley finished. "I know who he is, Teresa. I should."

Jane didn't know what he meant by that. He only knew that Riley looked at him with familiarity. Not that he had seen Jane before, but in what he heard about the Red John case and what Lisbon had obviously told him about him. This, however, wasn't something he cared about. He didn't care who Patrick Jane was at the moment.

"Okay, so what's Patrick Jane, here, doing in your bed, Teresa?" Riley asked, his clear dislike of someone in his wife's bed as clear as the awkwardness in the room.

Lisbon watched in painful silence as Jane reached down on the floor and picked up his shirt and shoes, putting them on, and reaching for his vest and jacket before turning to her. She could see the pain in his eyes. Shame. Betrayal. Confusion. She wanted to say something, anything that would take the hurt she saw away. She didn't get the chance, though.

"I think I better leave," Jane told her, his eyes sliding over to Riley, who had stepped inside the room. "I didn't know you were expecting company."

"Good idea," Riley told Jane. "She's _still_ a married woman. Does the guilt not eat you up?"

"Riley, knock it off! Jane! Wait!" she called after him as he walked out of her bedroom. If he heard her, he didn't listen. She could hear the apartment door below slam shut.

She turned to her husband and partner and frowned at him as he took in her appearance in just a nightshirt. She knew he was waiting for an explanation. His eyes lifted and his mouth folded into a thin line, and his arms did not uncross as he stared at her intensely. She felt like she wanted to burst into dust and float away from his judging gaze.

"Since when was this a relationship?" Riley asked her when she said nothing. "He's been back what? A year?"

"It's none of your business, Ri," Lisbon shot at him. "It's not what it looks like."

"Really? It looks like you slept with him, Teresa."

"I don't need to answer to you, Riley. We are separated for a reason," she cracked at him. "It's nothing."

"You're right," he said, uncrossing his arms. "Oh, I'm sorry. Sleeping in the same bed as my wife isn't a big deal. It's probably not what it seems. He was just warming your sheets for you," he replied in a fit of sarcasm.

She laughed at the truthfulness of his sarcastic comment. He couldn't know that that is partly what Jane was doing. Riley knew about her dreams, and this is what could be contributed to their impending divorce, but it was not the main issue that caused them to split. It was about something else entirely.

"Riley, you're being an asshole!" she replied. "And I really don't need this!" She picked up her jeans and pushed them on, buttoning and zipping them up.

"You're still my wife until I decide to sign the divorce decree. You know I want to work it out, Teresa."

"I don't want to work it out, Riley. We are only cordial because we have to be," she spat back. "You won't sign the divorce papers, Riley. You're the one holding on."

"We'll see. I still love you, Teresa." He inclined his head. "And you still love me."

"No," she shook her head. "We both know that isn't true."

She pulled off her shirt and placed a fitted black one in its place before looking up at her husband and sighing. This is why she didn't want them to meet. She'd have to deal with two very sulky men. She rolled her eyes as Riley moved out of her way so she could pass him and exit her room.

"Let's go," she told him. "We can talk about it on the way."

Riley stopped her and spun her around by the shoulder, dipping his tall frame down to look her in the face. Lisbon knew he wasn't a stupid man, so it was no surprise what his next question was. She didn't even pretend to lie to him. What would have been the use? Patrick Jane had been the main reason they were getting divorced, after all.

"Yes, you do. Why are you saying you don't still love me?" Riley asked, "Is it because of him?" Riley scrunched up his face. "I hate him."

He knew the answer already, and she knew he knew. She also knew the reason Riley didn't like Jane, too.

"Yes," she told him. "It is."

"If you love him as much as you think you do, you're going to have to tell him, Teresa. Soon. You didn't tell him about us, so I can only assume he doesn't know about that, either."

"I will," she promised. "As soon as I can trust him to handle it, okay?"

"Do you think if he knew, he'd take off again? Is that what you are scared of?" There was hope in Riley's voice.

Again, she didn't lie. She just couldn't. It was eating her up inside and telling Riley quelled it a little.

"Yes. I know he would, Ri. I know he would."

* * *

She got married during the two years he was gone, and she was getting divorced, too, from her new partner. He had no right to be bitter about that, but he was all the same. He was angry that she moved on. He knew how stupid that was, especially since he had wanted her to even when there were no feelings involved. He just wanted her to be happy. But having it come true was a very different beast indeed. He was pissed off that she hadn't told him. She had deliberately kept it from him in the year he'd come back. He suspected nothing and she had given nothing to make him suspicious other than her distance and cold mixed signals.

But then it all made sense; her coldness, her mixed signals, and her outburst that he would ask to move in with her for their arrangement. She hadn't wanted him to find out about Riley Dallon and their relationship. He was angry that Lisbon couldn't even tell him what was going on those two years he left though he had begged her to many times.

He had never seen Riley Dallon because he worked for Sac PD and likely didn't bother much with Lisbon after their departure. If he did, it was in the privacy of her home, in which Jane never been to before that first night he carried her to her bed. At least, not since his arrival back to the States. He had never come to the CBI to see her. Even if he did, Jane wouldn't have known who he was. Nobody had ever told him Lisbon had a new partner until Rigsby coughed it up to him last night. He was also pissed that the team had hidden it from him. What had happened to him on that island? Had he lost that much of his skill? Did they get better at poker faces?

"Another, please," Jane told the bartender, tapping his glass on the bar counter. "Double."

It was one-thirty in the afternoon and he was going to drown his anger in booze. He was going to let that liquid trickle down his throat and press all his thoughts from his mind and numb them. Numb everything he learned this morning.

"Sir," the bartender said, taking Jane's glass, "you had five already. It's the limit. No open bar. You gotta go."

"Huh?" Jane asked, his brain becoming obscure.

"You just gotta go. You're done here. Can I call you a cab?" the bartender offered. "You're drunk as shit. You can't drive."

"Okay," Jane slurred. It came out sounding like _'oh hey'_.

"Where to, buddy?"

Jane stood and swayed a little on his feet. He gave the bartender the only place he could remember clearly right now: Lisbon's apartment.

The cab pulled up twenty minutes later and Jane exited, unsteady on his feet. He reached into his pocket and stuffed whatever was in it at the driver and turned toward Lisbon's apartment. He staggered his way up the stairs and stopped at her door. He tried the knob first, but it was locked.

Reaching into his pocket, he removed his lock pick set, which he always had on him, and picked the lock on her door. He stumbled inside and slammed the door. Everything was getting blurry. His vision was starting to become distorted as the alcohol he consumed impaired him. He walked to her stairs and climbed them clumsily, nearly falling a few times.

"Lisbon!" he shouted. "Any other husbands showing up?" he shouted, laughing foolishly though he knew she wasn't home.

Finally, getting to the top safely, he turned into her bedroom and discarded his clothes and shoes, and hopped into the bed they shared. He grabbed a fistful of the sheet in his hand and brought it to his nose, sniffing the scent of Teresa Lisbon into his nostrils. It smelled of her perfume and sweat. A sweet fragrance. He smiled, closed his eyes, and fell asleep thinking about her in his drunken state on her bed. Their bed. The bed they shared, but not in the way he wanted or ever would.

 _He reached his fingers down to trace the curve of her neck. She shifted a little as his hand slid easily around to her chin and turned her head gently toward him. He smiled down at her as her eyes fluttered open. The piercing green searching his face as a smile crept at the edges of her soft, pink lips._

 _He heard her moan softly between them even before he dipped his head to press his rough lips against her. As soon as she felt the warmth from him against her mouth, she automatically turned herself and burrowed tightly against him. He felt her breasts push against his chest and he brought a hand to the small curvature of her back, unwilling to let any part of her free from being against his body. He could feel her hands come up to cascade through his curls, her teeth nipping the delicate skin of his lips._

 _He rolled her on top of him and pushed the chestnut curls from around her face as he placed a hand on the back of her neck and pushed her gently back down to his lips. He let his other hand wander down the curve of her back, over her bare hip and around to cup her butt with the palm of his hand, pressing her firmly into his growing erection. He ground her against him as her hands shifted and lifted his chin to allow her tongue entrance into his mouth. He pushed harder on her as he felt her moist mouth fervently dancing with his, a small groan gushing from his chest and ripping through his mouth and into hers._

"Jane!"

He felt a hand on his bare chest and a warmth radiating from his groin area. The dream he was so thoroughly enjoying melted away into the darkness of his inner eyelids. He was still very intoxicated and his mind was still fuzzy.

Jane reached down with his eyes still closed and captured her wrist. Finally opening his eyes, he was met with Lisbon hovering over him and frowning.

"Jane, you smell like a brewery," she whispered, not bothering to move her hand from his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to forget this morning," he told her honestly, slurring slightly.

"Jane, maybe we should talk about this when you're sober," she suggested. "Also, about your lock picking your way into my house. You have to stop that."

"Why? Afraid your husband will show up again?" Jane asked her, pushing her hand off his chest and sitting up slowly. His head was spinning and his anger had not subsided despite the beautiful dream Lisbon ruined. He found that she had covered his crotch with part of the sheet.

"That's not fair, Jane," she answered, stepping back from the bed.

"You're so right, Teresa. I'm such a horrible goddamn person that I didn't deserve to know you got married while I was away. It's not fair to you," he told her angrily, rubbing the spot between his brows. "Sorry."

"I didn't tell you for a lot of reasons, Jane," she said, raising her voice. "I never decided to just not tell you. I've thought about it a lot. I wanted to tell you when you got back, but I couldn't."

"You couldn't," he laughed loudly and shook his head. "You could have, but you didn't. I begged you and I asked you to tell me what happened those two years. You lied to me, Teresa," he said, turning to look at her now.

"You lied to ME!" she shouted at him, making him flinch back. "YOU LIED TO ME!" She walked away from him and walked to her closet.

Jane watched her walk inside and exit a moment later with a box. She walked back over to him and opened the box, dumping the contents all over him and the bed. There were letters after letters spread all over. He picked one up and looked at the front of it. His gaze fell across his own handwriting. It occurred to him that these were the letters he sent to her while in exile.

"You told me once you were always going to save me, Jane!" she told him, pointing to the letters. "But all I had for two years were those! You didn't even try to save me. You LEFT ME!" She was crying now, but it felt good to say to him after all this time. "You weren't there for TWO YEARS! What was I supposed to do, Patrick? What? Not move on? I tried that."

"You kept my letters," Jane whispered, pushing them around on the bed.

"I kept hope alive," she told him. "But when that didn't work, I became lonely and depressed. Riley was very comforting. He was extremely understanding. He was THERE FOR ME!"

"Wait," Jane said, pushing the letters off his lap and turning himself to stand. Some of the letters slid off him and onto the floor at his feet. He looked down and remembered that he was naked, but he found that he did not care. "I am not angry that you moved on. No, okay, I am. But I am more upset you never told me about it. Why were you hiding it from me?"

Lisbon was momentarily distracted by his naked body standing in front of her, but then she finally raised her eyes to his and let the tears fall.

"Because I wasn't ready for you to find out yet," she whispered. "I didn't want you to judge me."

"I wouldn't have judged you, Teresa," Jane whispered back, taking a shaky step toward her. "I'm not judging you."

"So why are you so upset about it and drinking?"

He ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I'm upset because you didn't tell me about it. I'm upset because it wasn't me."

She was stunned in place by his admission for a moment. He didn't even know if it was the booze making him tell her truths he wanted to keep buried, or if it was just him wanting to finally tell her after all these years. He watched her shake her head and bend down to grab his clothing. She stepped forward and pushed them at him.

"You don't know what you're saying," she said shaking her head. "You're drunk and upset."

He reached out a hand to take his clothes but pulled her against him with a gentle tug of her hand, leaving just a small gap between her and his completely naked body. This surprised her, as she gasped, pushing out her free hand to press on the skin of his waist just above his naked hip to stop her from tumbling into him. She could feel the dimple beneath her fingertips, and she studied his face, buzzed and beautiful. The lines of his face made her lose concentration and her breathing erratic.

"I might be a little drunk," he breathed, "but I know what I am saying, Teresa."

"What are you saying, Jane?" she asked numbly.

"You really don't know?" he asked, arching his eyebrow at her. "I'm jealous, Teresa. I am envious that he got to be with you that way and I am still trying to find the words to say to you even years later."

"Jane, don't!" she closed her eyes and moved her hand off his hip. It was like an electrical outlet got turned off at the loss of contact. "Don't say anything you're going to regret."

"My only regret is not saying it sooner, Teresa," he said. He brought his lips to her ear and breathed once, twice, three times unevenly. "I love you so much, Teresa. I know you probably don't love me back, but I love you. I have for a long, long time. Those two years away from you were hell. They were worse than hell. It was sheer purgatory. "

Lisbon said nothing. She was trying to stop her heart from leaping out of her chest and running away, aflame. Jane pulled his head back to look at Lisbon, his eyes searching hers as she opened them. He was still swaying a little on his feet, but the electricity was curving through his entire being, bringing him alive and sobering him.

"I hate myself because I hate that someone was lucky enough to have you while I was gone, Teresa. I'm upset that I wasn't here to be what he was to you. I'm upset that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about him."

She was silent for a long moment. Then: "You wouldn't have behaved differently, Jane."

"No," he agreed, letting go of her hand and taking his clothing from her. "But then I would have found out from you and not because he waltzed in here and found me in your bed."

She backed up and sighed. "I'll leave you to get dressed." She turned around and got to the door before he called out to her, making her turn back.

"You're not hiding anything else from me, are you?" he asked.

"Not hiding, no," she answered turning back around. "I do have something to tell you, though."

"Oh?"

She held up the lockpick in her hand. "No more of this crap. You can move in and use the door key like everyone else."

He smiled as he watched her walk away. It wasn't much, but at least it was some progress. At least she knew what his feelings were. He still didn't know hers, but he hoped it shifted somewhat in his favor.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This chapter is _rated M_. I hope you enjoy it. It's been a bit since I actually wrote (ok, tweaked) and M scene, so I hope it is as good as I think it is. Thanks for the reviews, as always. **

* * *

**Chapter Seven - Conditions**

* * *

It was late evening after he had sobered himself up enough when Jane arrived back at her apartment, his few possessions stuffed into a small, leather duffel bag. He put it down on the floor next to her front door and watched as Lisbon moved from the kitchen to stand in front of him. He watched her eyes flutter down to his lone bag and back up to his face.

"Is that all you have?" she asked, nodding at the bag on the floor. "Just the bag?"

Jane nodded his head at her and grinned. "I don't need much," he answered. "I have everything I need already here."

Lisbon didn't answer that. Instead, she held out her hand. In her palm rested the apartment door key. Jane lowered his gaze to the key in her hand, eventually reaching out to take it, his fingertips lingering on the skin of her soft palm.

"So, you don't feel bad about me taking your lock pick," she told him, unable to hide her smirk. "We don't leave work together, Jane. I don't want the team talking, so use that key when you get home, okay?"

 _Home_. The word hit him firmly in the heart. She had called her apartment his home. With _her_. With the woman, he just hours ago declared loving for a long time. He could feel an intense lump form in his throat as his eyes lifted back up to hers.

"Another requirement of yours?" he asked her softly.

"Yes," she returned. "It is. Non-negotiable."

"Understood," he promised her. "Thanks for, uh, letting me move in with you."

Lisbon shrugged her shoulders and turned from him. "After this morning, it's the least I could do."

He pocketed the key and followed her into her small living room, sitting down on the chair while she sat on the couch next to him. On the coffee table stood several takeout boxes from her favorite Thai restaurant, along with two forks, some napkins and two glasses of red wine. He watched as she handed over one of the cartons and handed him a fork.

"I thought you'd be hungry," she told him, grabbing her own carton and fork. "Yours is Curry. I think you'll really enjoy it. It's got chicken in it."

"I thought you were upset with me about earlier," he replied, dipping his head shrewdly.

"Doesn't mean I want to starve you, Jane," she replied, opening her paper container. "How would that look as a headline, eh? _'Local Cop starves jackass consultant',"  
_ she laughed and shook her head in amusement. "Eat."

He held the carton up in thanks and watched her as she nudged his wine glass at him. He sat down his fork and took the wine flute, raising it to his lips, first inhaling the invigorating scent of it before taking a small sip. He smiled at her warmly and noticed she was staring at him with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" he asked, setting the wine down on the table and letting his gaze fall to his carton as he opened its flaps. "I'll eat it, Teresa. It smells good."

"That's not why I am gawking at you, Jane," she told him, tapping her fork against the palm of her hand. "I'm staring at you because I just know that Patrick Jane has to have some questions for me about Riley."

He was silent for a long moment, considering. He didn't really know if he wanted to know anything about him. Knowing Dallon had been with Lisbon in an intimate way made him unreasonably angry. On the other hand, he had been upset because Lisbon hadn't bothered to tell him in the year he'd been back. He knew she was giving him a chance to ask whatever it was he wanted and she'd be honest. Maybe she felt guilty about not telling him, after all. He sighed and picked up his fork again.

"Uh, okay," he told her, stabbing at his food. "I guess I do."

He lifted his head and watched her take a long sip of her wine. He gathered it was nervousness that was making her drink her wine in longer strides and not her usual baby sample. She was about to take another long, drawn out gulp, so he reached a hand over to clasp lightly over her wrist, leading her hand with the glass in it back down to the table.

"Sorry," she told him, looking up into his eyes and frowning slightly. "Go ahead."

"You don't have to do this, Teresa," he stated to her softly. "It can wait."

She immediately shook her head at him as his hand lifted from hers. "You better ask now or I'll change my mind later. You're curious, and I want to give you answers. You deserve them."

"No, I don't," said Jane. "I don't deserve a damn thing, Teresa. I hurt you. Left you. That's unforgivable."

"It's not unforgivable, Jane. Please, just tell me what you want to know," breathed Lisbon. Her knee bouncing in nervous anxiety.

Quiet fell between them for a few moments as they chewed on their dinner. Finally, Jane looked up at her and licked his lips. Unconsciously, his eyes darted to her full lips before finding her green orbs again.

"How long were you married to him?" Jane took another bite of Curry as he awaited her answer.

Lisbon swallowed the food in her mouth and sat her carton down, pushing it away from her. "A while. We legally separated a month before you got back."

"The impending divorce... is that why he transferred to Sacramento?" Jane asked. "Rigsby told me," he added off her look.

"Partly," she replied. "There are other reasons."

He didn't press her about those reasons. "Why did you separate? I mean, what happened between you?"

She shrugged. "What didn't happen, Jane? We were partners, and then suddenly things changed. It was too fast. He wasn't as understanding as you are, Patrick," she answered.

"About the nightmare?"

"Among other things," she told him. "He couldn't get used to the screaming and thrashing at night. He thought it would get better, you know? Once we got married, he figured it out quickly that it wouldn't."

This guy had married her but left when things got tough and too hard to handle. He had more in common with this guy than he thought he did initially. He left Lisbon when she needed him. Took off.

"I know I'm not much better, but he sounds like an asshole, Teresa," he told her.

He couldn't help it. The guy sounded like a royal piece of work. He had suspected as much in Lisbon's bedroom this morning. He could read people who weren't Teresa Lisbon pretty well, and he didn't like what he saw with Riley Dallon.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "That was rude of me." He figured her silence was because he had offended her, and, being honest, this was the very last thing he wanted to do.

She suddenly burst out laughing and shook her head in amusement at him. "Probably more valid than I'd like to believe."

Jane looked at her thoughtfully and her laughter halted. "Were you unhappy?"

"We were happy... once," she said thoughtfully. "As happy as we could be under the circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Jane asked, suddenly unsure what she was talking about. His brows furrowed in confusion.

Did she mean them being partners? Was that against regulations still? What exactly did she mean by that? Whatever it was, she must have realized what she said because she stood up quickly and grabbed her container of food and her wine. He followed her as she walked into the kitchen, dumped her wine and placed her food in the fridge before turning back to him. She was avoiding eye contact on purpose as she spoke.

"I'm going to go take a shower," she told him. "Then I—we can go to bed, okay?"

He tried to capture her eyes to try to read what she was feeling and figure out why she abruptly cut off their conversation, but she would not look at him. Finally, unable to stand her staring at the wall instead of him, he reached a hand out and tugged her chin, forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"I won't push you to tell me anything, okay?" he told her, still confused by her behavior but not willing to fight with her about it. "When you want to tell me, you will, right?"

"You're not still mad about it, are you?" she asked softly, her voice low. "I mean, about all of it?"

"I'm not mad," he promised her. "Go get your shower and we'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Okay," she replied as he let go of her chin. "Thank you, Jane."

"For what?"

"Not leaving me again. Even after this."

And she turned from him, heading upstairs to shower. He watched her go and couldn't help but feel that Teresa wasn't finished telling her story. There was more to it.

Lisbon placed her head under the water and let the hot steam fill her lungs. She let the hot water cascade down her body and relax her tense muscles. She placed her head against the white subway tiled shower wall and closed her eyes.

She nearly blew it. She always said too much. He wasn't stupid. She saw his eyes reflect exactly what she was hoping to avoid: more suspicion. Jane finding out she had been married while he was away was hard on her. It was hard because he would never know she had only gotten married... She didn't finish the thought as she opened her eyes and leaned back to let the water hit her face, moving her head back and forth under the falling stream.

Jane was the reason her marriage fell apart. She had been talking about Jane when she met Riley, during their short dating period, and even after they got married. She had been caught reading Jane's letters at night when she woke up from her nightmare and Riley groaned and rolled over instead of comforting her. She'd sneaked the box of letters downstairs and read them just by candlelight, so she didn't wake him up. Sometimes, however, he woke up and watched her from the stairs. She saw him watching her, but said nothing. Usually the next morning, he'd ask her why she still bothered with Patrick Jane and his letters. Riley didn't exactly agree with her receiving his letters every week, either.

She sighed, reached to turn off the water and stepped out to dry off. Being in love with a man while married to another wasn't fun. Not for her. Most women would find that erotic and exciting to be pining after an illicit affair. She found it exhausting, heartbreaking and unfair to Riley. As hard as she tried not to love Patrick Jane, she fell even harder for him and out of love for her own husband. He wasn't Jane. Not in the ways she wanted him to be. But it was a moot point. She couldn't open herself up to him. He wouldn't understand.

She dressed in her pink, polka-dotted nightshirt and blue panties, and took the towel to her wet hair, drying it with haphazard strokes and rubs before throwing it in the hamper. She shut off the bathroom light and walked into her bedroom, where Jane was already in her bed, shirtless, but wearing blue pajama bottoms.

She watched him from the corner of her eye as she stopped at her dresser and picked up her hair brush and brushed her damp hair. He was staring at her, his eyes falling to the graceful legs, around her slim hips that hid beneath her nightshirt, and up to her bronzed face. She said nothing as she set the brush down and made her way to her side of the bed.

She was still a little flustered about the arrangement, and it showed in the timidness in which she got into her own bed. She slipped herself into her covers and raised them to her waist, rolling herself on her side facing away from him. She reached over and turned her table lamp off, but didn't close her eyes.

After a few quiet moments, she felt Jane slip down next to her. His warmth radiated through her as he nestled close, his warm chest pressed into her back. She felt his hand low on her leg underneath the cover. She felt him skim his fingers just under the hem of her nightshirt and rest there. His breath hit her neck in slow, shallow puffs. There was only that sound of his breathing for a long time. Sometimes, she could feel his fingers unconsciously draw circles on the flesh under the thin material of her shirt.

"Did you love him?" Jane asked her in a whisper after a while.

She could tell this was on his mind ever since he laid eyes on her husband this morning. Lisbon sighed deeply and rolled slightly back against his chest.

"You really want to do this right now?" she asked irritably. "It's," she looked over at the clock on the nightstand, "almost eleven, Jane."

"Only if you want to answer," he replied. "But your breathing is accelerated and you keep shifting your leg under my hand, so I know you are awake."

She groaned. "I thought I did."

He stopped stroking her skin with his fingers and leaned back, rolling her so he could see her face. She was nearly level against the mattress now, and he was hovering over her in the dusty shade of the room. He looked at her steadily for a moment before he spoke.

"What changed, Teresa?" he asked. "You married him. You must have loved him at one time."

"Is this a goddamn interrogation, Jane? Should I call a lawyer?" she spat.

"What happened?" Jane pressed.

Lisbon hoisted herself on her elbows and came within an inch of his face. "You happened! Happy? You are the reason my marriage fell apart! Is that what you wanted to hear? Does that make you feel better?"

"Me?" he asked, bewildered. "How?"

"Doesn't matter," she said, falling back onto the mattress with a soft thud. "The point is, I thought I loved him, but it was just me needing comfort. You were gone, Jane. Life got lonely, as I said before."

They were soundless for a long time. Both were looking at each other, their breathing quickening in the dense stillness between them. Jane leaned his head down very close to Lisbon's face and tilted his head at her.

"Did it end because you loved me, Teresa?" he asked her, barely audible. "Is that how I figure into that? He couldn't deal with that?"

She closed her eyes just for a few second before she found herself almost unwillingly nodding her head. "Yes." She opened her eyes and he was even closer to her face. So close, she could feel the heat of his breath on her lips. She found it hard to concentrate.

"Do you still love me?" he murmured. " Or was that broken when I came back?"

"It wasn't broken. It's more involved than this, Jane," she whispered back. "There are things you don't understand."

"But you still love me?"

"Yes," she breathed. It felt so good to say out loud; to admit it to him freely. "But it doesn't matter, beca—"

Before she could finish her words, his mouth was hot against hers, his hand reaching to cup her cheek to get her closer to him. She groaned against his lips, her arms lifting themselves almost immediately, her hands pressing into his bare back, the heat extending from his back to her fingertips and rushing through her body like a tidal wave. Crashing and caving in, making her body tremor and her mind cease to operate properly.

She felt his other hand inch its way up under her shirt, scrunching the material up on his wrist as he ascended, his fingertips sliding over the flesh of the indent at the top of her hip. He let go of her lips long enough to gaze down at her, tickling her skin with his warm, rapid breath. She could feel the shudder rip through her as his hand ghosted across her upper thigh.

"Teresa," Jane muttered. "You don't know how much I love you. How long I have loved you."

"Jane..."

"Shh," he told her. "I want to relish this moment." He reached up and pushed a strand of damp hair from her forehead. "I know you're going to stop me in a minute, and I just want to stay like this until you push me away, okay?" He touched her lips with his fingers and caressed the sensitive skin.

"I don't want to push you away. I don't have the strength to," she admitted to him, drawing her hand up to hold the scruff of his neck. "I want you to make love to me, Jane. Please."

She watched him explore her eyes as his fingertips rubbed the corner of her lip. When he didn't react, she pulled his neck down so that his lips pressed against hers, his fingers wrapping around the elbow of the arm that held his neck. He moaned softly as she parted her lips and crashed into his own, drawing him in and feeling the heat burst through her chest like a fireball.

The hand on her upper thigh crept up gradually over her belly, over the ridges of her rib-cage and cupped her breast, squeezing tenderly. She let go of his lips and turned her head at the sensation of his hand on her, his thumb flicking her crimped nipple. His lips found her neck, nibbling gently against the tender skin as Lisbon gasped underneath him, her hand releasing his neck and drifting up into his silken blond tresses. Her fingers interlaced through the strands.

"You're gorgeous, Teresa," he told her against her throat. "So beautiful."

Lisbon said nothing in return. Instead, she took her free hand and traced his upper arm with her hand, sinking down to his forearm that was just beneath her nightshirt, following his muscles upward under the shirt. She found his hand over her breast and rested her own there, feeling the reflexes in his knuckles as he squeezed gently against her.

It was exceptionally erotic to feel him touching her in places she only wished about for years. Feeling Patrick Jane's hand under her own, flicking her bud in swift, gentle strokes nearly shattered her; unhinged her and made her leave her own body in bliss. She tilted her head back so he was forced to lift his lips from her neck and look at her. She could see the raw desire in his bluish-green eyes as his breath hitched and she guided their hands in unison over to her other breast and coasted slowly and softly to the small swell of her belly, her fingers locking with his.

She followed the planes of Jane's face with her eyes. The soft wrinkles developing over his forehead and the corners of his eyes. She took in the determined bluish-green eyes, the slope of his nose, and the pucker of his lips that were a little wet from their excursion. She felt his warm sac on her thigh and it rattled her to the core. It was hot and intimate, and it was very sensual. She almost wanted to melt into him and let him do whatever he wanted to her, but she wanted to participatory in this. She waited just as long as he had, and she wanted to remember how her vivid daydreams were coming true. She wanted to give as much as take.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked her huskily. "Taking me on a tour?" He smirked.

"Something like that," was all she could manage.

She lifted herself off the mattress a little to meet his lips, their hands falling from under her nightshirt. Jane tasted her with his mouth and asked for entrance, tapping the tip of his tongue against her lips. She obliged, opening up enough for him to sweep into her mouth. His hands reached blindly between them to lift the hem of her nightshirt up.

"Let me," Lisbon suggested against his lips, taking over the duty of getting her nightshirt off. She broke the kiss begrudgingly as it went over her head. She abandoned it over the bed's edge.

With a swift roll of his body, Jane placed himself in a reclining position, with Lisbon straddling his waist, her legs bending flat against the mattress on either side of his hips. She leaned forward and placed a hand against the headboard, her chestnut curls falling around her face as she peered down at Jane.

"I've only been able to fantasize about this," he told her, reaching up to push her hair behind her ears. "And, let me tell you, it's not the same as being able to touch you for real." His hands slipped down her face, to her neck, over her bare, freckled shoulders. "The fantasies were never this good."

"For two years, all I had of you was the letters, Jane," she whispered. "You asked me earlier if I ever loved Riley. Do you still want the answer to that? The truth?"

Jane's hands paused at her collar bone. He leaned himself up to meet her face in closeness, lightly kissing her lips as his hands slipped around to her back and pushed her gently to him. His lips left hers and his head dipped to kiss and nibble her skin just above her breasts.

"If you'd like to tell me," he said against her flesh.

She brought the hand that was resting against the headboard down to cup his face, tipping it upward for him to look her in the eyes. She searched his face and slowly licked her lips and sighed.

"The truth is, he was a convenient solution for me. He was willing to listen to me about you. I know this is hard to understand," she shook her head slightly, "but he made me feel like you never went away."

"Did you ever really love him?" Jane inquired simply.

"No," she told him honestly. "I didn't."

"Why did you marry him, Teresa?"

"I was lonely and sad, Jane," she replied. "And there was other things factored in. When I said he understood and was there for me, I was being honest about that. All I got out of it was pain and hurt. Well, mostly."

"Oh," he murmured. "I see."

"I am telling you this because I don't want to wake up tomorrow with regrets," she explained. "I want to do this with you in complete honesty."

"You don't owe me anything, Teresa," he told her. "When I took off from you, I gave up any rights I may have occupied in your heart. I understand why you did it. I may not like the man, but I understand your reasons for doing what you did."

"But you don't care I am still married?" she asked, his throbbing erection under her leg distracting her briefly from her train of thought.

"No," he said without hesitation. "You belong to nobody, Teresa. Even him."

"You don't like Riley?" Lisbon chuckled.

"No," he replied, kissing her on her soft lips. "I don't."

He didn't elaborate on the subject further. Instead, he chose to lift Lisbon straight up and trail kisses from her lips downward, tracing licks and nibbles as his hot mouth dipped low, taking her into his mouth and sucking gently on her. He felt her buckle slightly under his mouth, and her elbows rest on his shoulders, bending and trapping her hands in his blond curls.

"Jane, please," she muttered, her cheek falling against his hair. "Please."

He growled at her plea as his hands wrapped around her torso and he lifted her back gently on the mattress. Jane moved from the bed to rid himself of his pajama pants. He kicked them to the side and crawled back onto her bed, crossing her body with his own, feeling every inch of her against him. He growled again when he felt her hands slide down the curvature of his spine, her fingers tantalizing and trembling as they made their way to his butt where she pressed and pulled at the soft skin.

"I love you," Jane whispered, kissing her eyelids. "Very much." He kissed the tip of her nose, then her lips.

"I love you, too," she whispered in reply. "Thank you, Jane." She kissed him back.

"For what?"

"Helping me," she told him. "Being here."

"Shh," he said, shaking his head. "Don't." He put his fingers to her lips and as he slid her blue cotton undies down her legs with one hand, tugging gently as her hips lifted automatically for him.

Jane rolled to the side slightly so she could kick them off her ankles before covering himself flush with her once again. Jane took his knee and parted her thighs wide. Reaching down, he grabbed a hold of himself and positioned his tip at her velvet heat. He held an unwavering gaze to Lisbon as she whined softly at the sensation as he glided himself up and down her cleft before he pushed himself deep inside.

Fire and heat spread through his body as he felt her tighten around his hardness. He looked directly into her eyes as the connection was made, taking in the desire flecked in her green eyes. He felt his hips grind against hers as he gyrated slightly, causing a small murmur to escape her sweet, soft, delectable lips.

She opened herself wider and lifted her legs to lock on his hips. He slid out of her slowly as he felt her arc below him, her hips meeting his. Her hands slid up from his butt to soar back up his spine and gently cradle his neck as his lips found her throat.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, feeling him push himself back into her harder and faster. "Mmm."

"Sorry," he said, momentarily stopping his thrusts and pulling back to look at her face. "Did I hurt you?"

"Don't stop!" she whined restlessly. "It wasn't pain!"

He chuckled and picked his strokes up again, listening as her breathing increased and she began to elicit a deep growl in her throat as he thrust into her deeper and harder with each press into her. He could feel her shudder beneath him as she came for him, cupping his face and bringing it to her lips as she continued to rock from his strokes.

Lisbon was panting and kissing and trembling when she heard him call out her name. He came a minute later, his body quaking in her arms as his warmth spread into her. He groaned loudly as he felt himself empty and spill inside her, kissing her lips fiercely. She kissed him passionately back as she held him in her embrace, waiting for both their bodies to stop shaking. Lisbon's hand drifted to his bare hip and rested it there, their bodies still intertwined together.

"Oh," she panted softly. "Wow."

"I love you, Teresa," he told her, his voice shaking as he kissed her forehead and then her lips again.

Minutes went by, and neither made an attempt to move. Heavy breathing and caressing had taken over. It was as if the two years apart had come to an end this very night and they were making up for lost time.

Finally, after their bodies ceased quivering, Jane pulled out of her and rolled onto his back beside her. He felt her immediately sling herself over his chest and bury her cheek in his warmth. His arms snaked around her torso and pulled her even closer. He had been dreaming about this night for a long, long time. Her in his arms after making love, knowing she loved him as much as he loved her. He kissed the top of her head.

"Do you want to belong to me? " he asked her.

"Do you want to own me?" she retorted, laughing softly.

"Nobody can own the feisty Teresa Lisbon."

"It depends on who's buying," she teased.

They were quiet for a long time after. Lisbon rubbed a circle with her index finger on his chest. Jane's hands were still on her bare hip. Lisbon sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She had just made love to Patrick Jane. He accepted what happened the two years away clearly enough. The question running through her muddled mind now was would he accept her other secret? Would he be okay with it? She didn't know if he'd be quite so understanding.

"Jane?" she called out softly. "Are you awake?"

If he was, she was just going to tell him. He had a right to know, and she wanted to get it out. She had to. She got no answer, so she tilted her head up to look at his face, opening her eyes and sighing. He was asleep. She closed her eyes once more and knew she wouldn't tell him when she woke up. Her courage would be gone by then.

"Good night, Jane," she whispered. "I love you."


	8. Chapter 8

**THREE YEARS AGO**

* * *

"He's been gone for a while," she told Riley, twirling her pasta on her fork and sighing. "Anyway, I must be boring you. Sorry."

Riley Dallon took a bite of his sandwich and smiled at her. She was disarmed by his smile. It was the kind of smile that reminded her of Jane. It was easy and free and was given to her genuinely. This lunch was going by too quickly she found. She hadn't been this interested in something since Jane left. She felt her loneliness ebb as she sat on the roof cafe with her new partner. Even though they had been eating lunch together for nearly a month, the conversation always gravitated toward Jane. She had always made sure of that. It was just small mentions, but today the conversation about a fake psychic in a case they were working had kicked up her thoughts, spilling them like sand from a broken hourglass.

"It seems like you miss him a lot," Riley said, putting his sandwich down on his plate and wiping his mouth. "He was just your partner?" he asked.

Lisbon flinched and looked away from the handsome man sitting across from her. She was a little embarrassed that she must have talked about Jane so much that Riley thought they were a little more involved then she suggested to him.

"I'm sorry," Riley apologized regretfully, making Lisbon turn back to him. "I didn't mean to pry or anything. It's just you seem to have a connection to him," he explained. "I mean, a romantic link? Oh, God. I probably just made it worse! I am so sorry about that. It's just you talk about him every chance you get."

Lisbon laughed and shook her head. He laughed with her and picked up and took a drink of his soda. She watched his eyes as they searched for assurance that he hadn't offended her in any way, and she had softened her eyes to grant him that assurance.

"It's okay," she promised him. "It's certainly a legitimate question. Jane and I have— _had_ —a complex relationship. It is— _was_ —professional in nature," she explained. "But I feel his absence every day. He's not the kind of man you can just forget," she added sadly. "He was one-of-a-kind."

"He sounds like it," Riley told her. "How are you coping with it all? I mean, if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked at him for a moment and couldn't decide what it was about Riley Dallon that made her sing like a bird. She could think back to the many times Rigsby and Van Pelt had pried her to talk to them, but she had told them she was fine. The truth was, Teresa Lisbon was not fine. She spent many days trying to get that stupid origami frog to jump. Or look at his picture on her phone. Or secretly sneak into the files room and laugh as she reminisced about the troubles documented in his behavioral files.

The point was, Lisbon never even mentioned Jane around her team. What made this guy different? Perhaps it was because he didn't know Jane like they did. Maybe it was her fear that they would figure out how badly she was dealing with his loss (it was almost as if he died) or accuse her of being in love with Jane. She would deny it outwardly, but inwardly, she would feel the pinch of truth in their words. Maybe it was because this guy reminded her so much of Jane. He looked nearly identical in the face; his eyes were greenish like Jane's, his facial structure was the same. Even their hair was similar, the color and length (last time she saw Jane) being the only difference.

"Not—not well," she revealed. "It's like he died." She picked up her coffee and took a sip, wincing at the lack of sugar. "I keep waiting to get a call from him or see him when I come in here in the mornings. Is that sad?" she asked with a nervous laugh, setting the coffee container back down.

"I don't think that is sad," he replied, shaking his head. "I think he took a lot when he went. I mean, it sounds like it. A lot of unresolved issues."

Lisbon scoffed. "You don't know the half of it yet. We better go," Lisbon told him, looking at her watch and realizing it was almost time to head back.

"How about you tell me that other half over dinner?" Riley asked, leaning forward. "I'd love to hear more about you, though, Teresa. Maybe you could tell me something about yourself, too."

She was going to say no. She was going to make up the same lame excuse she has been using and decline his offer. However, this time, she found she didn't want to use an excuse. She found comfort in this guy. Her partner. She found that she could talk about and get everything off her chest when it came to Jane. He had been listening to her the past month, every day while they ate lunch. She knew almost all about him. He had two brothers who lived in Maine with his parents, how he had gotten into being a cop, and some other details he had willingly shared. She knew a lot about him, and he knew so little about her because she refused to open herself up. But he still listened to her. It gave me so much relief and satisfaction. She actually felt a little better. Still sad and lonely, but a little better knowing that someone was listening to her and wouldn't judge her or jump to conclusions.

"Sure," she finally said. "Dinner."

Riley Dallon smiled widely at her. "Great. Tonight? Eight? Mateo's?" He hoped she knew he was being coquettish.

"I'll be there," Lisbon assured him, a smile unfurling across her face. "Eight at Mateo's."

She didn't know this would start a courtship with her own partner. She didn't even know it would lead to some hard truths either or the fact that Jane would cause more than his share of trouble between them even miles and oceans apart. She only knew that Riley gave her a place to breathe and to be understood. For now, that seems to be enough.

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY**

* * *

The morning sun shined brightly through the slats of the window shade, throwing sunlight cross his face and waking him up. As soon as his eyes opened lazily in a sleepy haze, he realized that they were still both naked, the heat from her body etching through him like fire. He sighed contentedly and kissed her gently on her neck, wrapping his long arms around her and finding his graceful fingers holding her against him.

Little bits of last night flooded into his mind. The way Lisbon had pleaded with him to make love to her, and the way he had given in to her wish. He thought about the way her skin felt against his and the soft feel of her lips pressing passionately with his. He had thought about what this would feel like for a very long time. How it would feel to make love to Teresa Lisbon. It felt so incredible. It felt like all the bridges were burned and turning to dust. Whatever was wrong between them was mending.

He smiled as his hand mischievously fell down, caressing over her ribs, down past her naval and sliding against the dark curls between her legs. He kissed her neck again as she stirred, feeling his fingers flicker just above her cleft. He felt her move and roll herself onto her back as her head turned toward him and her eyes popped open sleepily.

"Morning," he whispered, bending to kiss her on her forehead. "You look beautiful."

"Morning," she replied back, allowing him to kiss her on the lips as his fingers dipped below.

Her hand pressed over his as his fingers probed gently, rubbing soft strokes with the pad of his fingers. She breathed softly against his mouth as his wake-up call to her pulled in the pit of her belly. She reached a hand up to cup his face, bringing him harder against her mouth as his fingers dipped further.

"I love you," Jane whispered between kisses.

It was then that Lisbon's ecstasy broke into pieces. She suddenly snapped out of it and realized that what they were about to do couldn't happen again. She loved him, this was true, but she wanted the distance from him romantically. She had let herself fall off the edge last night and had let it get out of hand. She simply couldn't allow that to happen. What exactly did she think she was doing? How did she let it get so out of control? He just wouldn't understand. She couldn't do that to him.

She shoved at Jane's chest, pushing him roughly off of her and lifting herself up, covering her naked body with her sheet as she wiped her mouth on it, pushing a hand through her hair with the other as she leaned back toward the headboard in an almost automatic recoil. She turned her head away from him and put a hand to her forehead in distress. Jane, for his part, lay there astonished at her sudden change of mind. He finally got himself together and cleared his throat, reaching out a hand to gently touch two fingers to her upper arm.

"I'm sorry, Teresa," he told her very softly. "I didn't mean to—I thought you wanted me to."

"Can you please leave, Jane?" she asked him, almost soundless. "Please?"

Jane removed his hand from her arm and sat there for a still moment. "But—"

"Please, JUST. LEAVE!" she said loudly. "I'll be alright."

Jane sighed and put a hand through his hair. "No."

Lisbon turned to him now. "Get out," she said low and rough. "Please just get the hell out!"

"No," he repeated defiantly, sitting back against the headboard and crossing his arms. "No, no, I'm not leaving. I don't care that you pushed me away, Teresa. I am not going to leave you alone. The answer is NO. I will not leave."

"Then I will!" She told him angrily, getting out of the bed, picking up her clothes and rushing into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Jane sat in stunned silence for a minute before getting out of the bed himself and gathering his clothes. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly on it with his knuckles.

"Teresa? Teresa, what did I do?" he asked through the door softly. "I'm sorry for whatever it was I did. Okay?" He didn't know what it was he was supposed to have done. She had done a turn since last night. Her head and her heart were all mixed up.

"Go away, Jane!" she yelled, her voice thick, as though she were crying.

"I really don't get it. You asked me to make love to you last night, and this morning you are treating me like a disease!" he shouted through the door, unable to control his anger any longer. "I don't know how to act around you anymore! You tell me you love me, but then you push me away and won't tell me why! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN YOU, TERESA!" he shouted, pounding a hand against the door. "IT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME! YOUR MARRIAGE WHILE I WAS GONE DOESN'T MATTER! WHATEVER HAS UPSET YOU, I'M SORRY!"

"Last night was a mistake! I should have stopped it!" he heard her say through the door. "We shouldn't have done what we did, Jane!"

"But we did! It was great and I don't regret it. I don't!" he said back. "I love you and I want to be with you. And, if you were being honest with me last night, you want to be with me, too! I don't care about your husband! He's the past, Teresa. We'll get passed that!"

"I can't!" she sobbed. "I am begging you to leave! I want you to go, Jane! I don't think I want you to stay here at night anymore, either."

One step forward, two giant leaps back! He sighed, stuck a hand through his hair and dressed. He put his hand up as if to knock again, but changed his mind. If she didn't want him here, he'd obey her wishes and leave.

"Fine," he told her softly. "You can hate me all you like. You can pretend last night wasn't the best night of our entire relationship, and you can even order me away from your bed and our arrangement if you want," said Jane. "But it certainly was not a mistake making love to you, Teresa. Not by a long shot! In fact, it was one of the best nights of my life!"

When he got no answer, he pounded on the door once more with his palm in frustration and turned away from the room. He took one more glance of the bed, thinking this would be the very last time he'd see her bed again. He looked back at the closed bathroom door, sighed and exited the room.

Jane stormed down the staircase feeling so confused and annoyed, but more frustrated than anything. He hated how things were between him and Lisbon. She had confessed that she loved him, too, and felt the same way so why was she still pushing him away? They had finally been physically intimate for the first time together, but she had basically pretended it didn't even happen! She turned cold in a flash without any real explanation, throwing him out of her bed and running into the bathroom.

It felt like she was pulling him ten different directions being hot and cold all the time. Finding out she was married had hit him like a thunderbolt when she told him. He couldn't believe just how little he knew about her life in the two years he had been away. He surely never expected that kind of secret. Jane grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the dining room chair as he heard Lisbon starting the shower from upstairs. He would go to the office to give them both some time and space to calm down.

He made his way through the apartment, grabbing his duffel bag and angrily pulling open the front door and gasped loudly at what was on the other side, dropping the bag onto the floor with a thud at his feet.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Unexpected**

* * *

He was greeted with the sight of Riley Dallon carrying a small, sandy-haired baby boy in his arms, dressed in little blue pants and a white shirt, with a stuffed toy in his little hands. Her husband stood aimlessly on Lisbon's doorstep.

Jane stilled himself, quickly studying the other man's face. Just being near the man made his skin burn and itch. The thought that this man was still married to the woman he loved made him want to bodily lash out in hatred. Jane glanced quickly towards the drowsy looking baby in Riley's arms and his mind made a mental note that there was something much more to this than met the eye but couldn't quite place what.

It was also obvious to Jane that this man was a cop before Jane had even spotted the shiny police badge firmly at his hip. The man's authoritative posture showed he felt he was someone of importance, but his badly fitted suit gave it away that he hadn't quite hit the top ranks just yet.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dallon asked sharply, clearly a little shocked by Jane's presence at Lisbon's door. His eyes flickered to the duffel bag at Jane's feet and back to his face.

"Uh, I think you will find that's normally the person on this side of the door's opening line," Jane retorted with a hint of sarcasm, deciding right away that he didn't like this man at all and that it had nothing to do with his jealousy. You didn't need to have mentalist skills to read this guy was a prize brute.

"Where is Teresa?" Dallon asked, peering rudely over Jane's shoulder trying to see if there was any sign of her in the apartment. "I need to talk to her. Is she here?"

Jane could feel the hairs on his neck rise with the familiar use of Lisbon's first name. He knew they weren't even officially a couple yet, but having any man being too forward with the woman he loved had always made him get his blood up.

"Teresa is not available right now." Jane moved forward to block the doorway, feeling protective of Lisbon home and not wanting her loser of a husband getting through again.

"Yeah, well, I can hear the shower running so I know she is here. It's why I was made Sergeant." The delivery of his patronizing tone showed that he expected his job title to be found impressive and intimidating to the blond-haired consultant standing in the doorway.

"Dallon. Is that like the yogurt?" Jane smirked mischievously, totally bypassing the detective's feeble attempt at intimidation techniques.

Jane instantly spotted the anger spreading across the stranger's face, but the detective quickly recovered when he glanced down at the baby in his arms and decided against it.

The next minute, the man rudely brushed past Jane, stepping straight into the apartment, placing the baby boy carefully down onto the floor. Turning around quickly and stepping back towards Jane, the man squared up and lowered his voice to a more threatening tone. "You are lucky I have my little boy with me here today, otherwise, I would..."

"What? Arrest me?" Jane laughed with amusement, letting Dallon know he wasn't going to be threatened by some two-bit cop with a chip on his shoulder.

"Listen to me, you cocky son of... " The detective's words trailed off as he looked down at the small baby again, now crawling happily around the floor realizing his language wasn't going to be suitable for young children.

"I should put you through that wall for what you have done. You took my wife from me. You ruined everything between us. YOU ruined everything. You _ruined_ my marriage!" Riley told him, his eyes narrowing at Jane. "You and your goddamn letters to her. You _brainwashed_ her."

"Marriage? Is that what you called it, Detective?" Jane grinned when he emphasized on the word 'detective' a little too mockingly. "I think you have me confused with someone else. I am pretty sure I never took your wife anywhere, yet. Though saying that I do possess a certain... unique charm the ladies seem to like, and my dazzling good looks have been known to be rather mesmerizing, too."

"You really are the arrogant, self-assured, smart-ass bastard they all said you were," replied the Detective, shaking his head in utter incredulity. "Except Teresa. She's blinded by the fraudulent sense of your charm, I guess."

"Please stop, you are making me blush." Jane rolled his eyes, not at all fazed by his insults. He stepped away from the man moving more towards where the baby was sitting on the carpet, playing. Jane hoped that if he pushed the man too far with his mocking attitude, the child's presence may stop him doing him some real physical damage.

"So, come to pick up the rest of your belongings?" Jane asked, smirking arrogantly, rather enjoying winding up the rude, egotistical detective.

"So, she told you about me? Still got the ring and all, buddy. It's funny because the shock on your face the other morning when I caught you in bed with my wife, told a totally different story. Good to know she let that secret out, finally."

It was now Dallon's turn to grin, seeing that this had wiped the arrogant, smug smile off of Jane's face for the first time since they had met.

"Oh. Well, I am glad to see I am not the only one she seems to keep secrets from. Thought you were some kind of a psychic or whatever the hell you are, anyway. Shouldn't you have seen me coming in a vision or something? Oh, no. That's right. You were too busy sleeping with my wife." Dallon glanced down at his wristwatch to see that it wasn't yet seven am and could see no other reason why the consultant would be in Lisbon's home so early.

Jane felt a mixture of hatred and nausea hit his stomach. This arrogant vile man standing in front of him was really Lisbon's husband, his Lisbon, his Teresa. Every part of him wanted to believe this was some sort of cruel sick joke or prank. The thought that this man had once kissed her soft lips or held her in his arms made Jane want to vomit.

"Wife," Jane repeated. "When did you actually marry her?" Jane asked angrily, letting his jealousy show.

"What?"

"When did you marry Lisbon? She wouldn't tell me exactly."

"Listen, I really don't have time for this."

"I said _when_ ," Jane asked again, loudly and firmly. He could feel the angry rush of blood pumping through his veins wondering if part of him was going into some sort of shock by all this. Out of all the things he thought Lisbon was hiding from him, a husband had definitely not been one of them.

"Two years ago, I guess. Look, I don't have time for this crap! My nanny has had to fly home for a family emergency and I have a big case that's out of town, and so I need Teresa to watch Aiden for me."

"You need your wife to deal with your childcare issues? Wow, I can't believe she doesn't want to stay married to you," Jane quipped, having fully replaced his mask and recovered from the shock of her husband turning up again. "You said you are separated, so you shouldn't be putting your domestic issues on Teresa anymore. She has enough going on without some lousy husband turning up and dumping some child on her."

"Well, what we do with _our_ son is none of your goddamn business, is it?" Dallon told him, scoffing at the consultant, knowing full well Jane would question his words. Dallon straightened up when he saw Jane's mask had slipped again. "She gave birth to that child, so is it really dumping him if it's to his own mother?"

"Lisbon had a _baby_? With _you_?" Jane lowered his eyes and licked his bottom lip. Shock shuttered across his face in waves as his eyes darted to the child on the floor and back to the vile man standing there. "That's _her_ son?"

"Oh, this is just perfect. She didn't tell you that part yet, did she?" Dallon's face lit up, giddy with glee at having the upper hand with the man that he believed to have stolen his wife and destroyed his marriage. "I told her! She said she was going to! And here I thought you two were close! Partners! Guess you are not that close anymore, huh? But hey, maybe if you stopped fucking," he whispered the curse word, "my wife long enough, she might actually tell you some things."

"I swear, if you ever talk about Lisbon in that manner again, I promise you I will make you regret it. Do you hear me?" Jane replied coldly, sick and tired of his personal remarks about his relationship with Lisbon while not taking his eyes off of the little baby since Dallon had dropped the latest bombshell.

Jane watched as little Aiden pulled himself up and waddled across the room unaware just how much he had just turned Jane's world on its head. He was nearly the spitting image of Lisbon (save his hair), with his shiny green eyes. He could easily see the familiarity he felt earlier, now. The child that had come from Lisbon even had some of her freckles on his small, porcelain-like face.

There was a loud thump from upstairs and the sound of the shower shutting off indicating that Lisbon was finished her showering. At that moment, Dallon's cell started ringing and he pulled it out of his jacket. "Shit, I have to take this. Look, just tell Teresa I will call on her later on. I shouldn't be gone more than two or three days at the most. Bye, Aiden! You are going to stay with mommy for a few days, okay? And mommy's lover, but you are too young to understand that. Be a good boy."

Dallon moved to the front door, still ignoring the ringing cell but turned back around to Jane before he exited. "Just make sure you take care of our son. Your reputation with keeping kids safe is pretty poor from what I have heard."

Rather than responding in a physical, angry manner, Jane let out a very loud, condescending laugh, which wasn't the reaction Dallon had expected towards his cold callous remark.

"What?"

"Meh, I am just wondering why a smart, intelligent woman like Lisbon would marry such a completely ignorant idiot like you."

"Ignorant idiot?"

"Yes. Because any man with half a brain would know the last thing you would want to do is make an enemy of me."

With Jane's cold, chilling statement ringing in his ears, Dallon's snide look dropped as he swallowed nervously. The sound of heavy footsteps running down the stairs made both men look away from their angry standoff. There, standing wrapped in a small, yellow towel, still dripping wet, was an astonished and outraged looking Lisbon.

"Riley? What are you doing here?" Lisbon snapped, angrily glaring at her husband for his unannounced visit for the second time, but this time with Aiden in tow. Her eyes slid from her husband to Jane and down to little Aiden, playing with a stuffed mouse. Her gaze fell guiltily back to Jane before sliding back over to Riley. "You know you have primary custody! What are you doing here, Riley?" she repeated.

"I was just telling your boyfriend, here, that I need to go out of town for a case and my nanny has had a family emergency. I need you to have Aiden for a few days for me."

Lisbon glanced nervously over to Jane, who was standing stony-faced, staring in her direction. She knew how angry he must feel for not telling him the truth about how she had become a mother as well as a wife in his absence. After a few tense moments of silence, Riley sighed, annoyed at having to watch as his wife and Jane quietly staring at each other.

"Jane, Aiden is my son," Lisbon said in a tone just barely more than a whisper. Her eyes turned away in shame for having kept it from the man she loved for so long. Jane stayed devoid of any sort of emotion, not saying anything or taking his eyes off of Lisbon.

"Yeah, they have already met. Take care of our son, Teresa. I'll leave you to explain why you keep lying to this idiot," Riley spat spitefully, leaving the apartment and slamming the front door hard behind him, seeing that neither his wife or her lover cared if he was still there or not.

"I will just go put some clothes on. Please watch the baby?" Lisbon sheepishly turned around without waiting for an answer, running back up the stairs clearly wanting to break the tangible tension between them.

Using all his biofeedback skills to get his anger and shock under control, Jane watched as Lisbon headed back up the stairs. Finally finding the strength to move, Jane found little Aiden was standing just behind him, smiling innocently up at him and holding his favorite toy in the air with pride.

"Hello, baby boy! What you got there? Do you mind if I sit down here?" he asked the child gently. "Let me get a look at you."

Jane slowly moved to sit down on the carpeted floor, making himself seem less threatening to the small baby, who had unfortunately just witnessed some very tense scenes. Aiden smiled lovingly and wobbled over towards Jane, stretching out his hand and grabbing one of the buttons on Jane's vest. Jane chuckled, enjoying the baby's fascination with his clothing and the feel of having a child in his arms again.

"So," he said, smiling at the child. "You are why your mommy has been so mixed up, huh? You're the secret she wouldn't tell me. You are a gorgeous little boy. I will give you that. Just like your mother. Oh! You want me to have your toy? Oh, thank you! Mickey Mouse. He is my absolute favorite. How did you know?"

"Gah," Aiden said as he held his arms out trying to wrap them around Jane's large frame to lean his little head against his chest for a hug. Jane picked Aiden up, hugging and squeezing him tightly before placing a small kiss to the baby's soft, silken hair.

"Aw, you give the best hugs in the whole wide world. You are very special, just like your mother. Do you know you how very lucky you are to have such a wonderful mommy? She is one of the most amazing people I have ever known and gives incredible hugs, too. You, baby boy, are most definitely taking after her for that."

Jane rocked the child in his arms, enjoying the hug and tender moment they were sharing. Though he was upset with Lisbon at not telling him about her son, having the child cuddled up in his arms was definitely softening his stance. After a few minutes, he noticed the baby's breathing had slowed and looked down to see the gorgeous little boy had fallen tranquilly asleep in his arms.

As Jane watched the splitting image of the woman he loved sleep peacefully in his arm. He felt the familiar paternal tug in his heart. He was still angry that she had kept so many secrets from him, and he had questions, too. Why did Riley have the child? When did Lisbon get the little boy? Jane looked at Aiden and already loved him. He was a part of Lisbon, and he wanted whatever was attached to her. He had only just met this little boy, but he already felt a connection. A deep one.

Lisbon didn't want to tell him about Aiden. Jane sure didn't know anything about the child. Not in the year, he'd been back did Patrick Jane ever see, hear or suspect that Lisbon had a child. He hadn't even known she was married until yesterday! Why did Lisbon feel the need to keep this from him? Did she think he'd think differently about her? Did she think he'd leave? What possessed her to hide such a sweet child from him?

"Sleep well, Aiden," he told the sleeping baby. "Sleep well." He kissed him on his head once more.

* * *

Lisbon stood listening from the top of the staircase, dressed and carrying a blue baby blanket, watching Jane sweetly interact with her baby son. Emotional tears began falling down her face before she even knew what was happening. Seeing both of the loves of her life together in the same room was the most amazing thing to witness, but to see that both Jane and her son already had a special bond was amazing beyond words. She knew Jane would have lots of things to ask her, and she only hoped that at the end of her explanation, he'd still be around and he'd still love her.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So sorry for the super long wait. I hope you enjoy the update.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Coy**

* * *

He heard her come behind him, but he didn't move. Instead, he put a hand on Aiden's back and rubbed gently, feeling the baby's small breaths as he slept soundly against his broad chest. He inhaled the scent of baby powder and baby lotion, letting the smell that seemed so foreign to him drift over him.

"I have his blanket," Lisbon told him, clearing her throat. "It's his favorite."

He was very silent. He was still angry that she kept not just one secret from him, she kept two. She came around and sat on the ottoman closest to her son and himself. He looked up at her finally and caught the shame in her eyes before his gaze fell to her moving hands. He watched her play nervously with the blanket and sigh.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, Jane," she said, closing her eyes, "but I need to at least explain. I wanted to tell you. I did."

He looked back up at her face and then down to the sleeping baby on his chest. He released the hand on the child's back and held it out for the blanket. Lisbon transferred it to him and watched him as he lifted the baby and laid him on the soft carpet in front of him, covering his slightly stirring body with his favorite blanket.

"He's a sweet baby," Jane finally said, turning his attention back to Lisbon. "He looks so much like you. How old is he, Teresa?"

"Eighteen months," she responded, sliding off the ottoman to sit next to Jane. Both watched the baby for a few minutes before Lisbon turned back to Jane, staring at him intently. "You have questions."

"Many," he admitted. "Starting with why you decided to keep it from me. What did you think was going to happen if you told me, Teresa? You made me wait a whole year. Never breathing a word of it. I never even suspected you had a child. Your mask got stiffer."

"Leave me," she said, deadpan. "Cut your losses and leave. Think 'oh, she's got a kid now, not interested'."

"You really think that you having a child would scare me off? Make me forget _loving_ you?" Jane scoffed. "I would never do such a thing, Teresa. That precious baby doesn't deserve that and neither do you."

He looked at her and his anger he felt broke into pieces. She thought he'd think of her differently if he knew she had a child to someone else. The marriage part was difficult, but he could see now that wasn't the reason behind her hot and cold signals with him. And her behavior this morning was because of the guilt that ate at her. He couldn't be angry at her for moving forward with her life and having a child. He couldn't be angry at her or the world for living, and continuing to do so long after he left her. Nothing Teresa Lisbon did deserved his anger. Though he still felt betrayed, the angry, bitter feeling he had when Riley had told him melted.

"I didn't want to risk it," Lisbon told him. "Telling you, I mean. I don't think I could handle losing you a second time, Jane," she said honestly.

Lisbon bent and placed a hand on her son's belly, smiling. She felt Jane's fingers on her wrist. Looking up, she saw a peculiar look on his face. One that said he was both thinking and formulating a revelation in his head. He tilted his head and smiled.

"You married that simpleton—I mean, Riley—because you got pregnant, didn't you?" Jane asked her. "You wanted to do right by Aiden, and have a father and mother for him. You lost out on your parent's early in life and wanted to make sure it didn't happen to Aiden, but you didn't love Riley. That's why he was so convenient to you. That's why you accepted his proposal," he said. "Plus, your mother would roll over in her grave if she knew you were pregnant out of wedlock. The Catholic in her, I suspect."

She didn't deny it. Instead, she nodded her head slightly and smiled. "I did it for him." She nodded toward Aiden. "Riley did it out of what would the team think of him terms. Knocking up his partner without marrying her first. He never cared about being a real dad."

"I have a lot of questions, Teresa," Jane told her, releasing her wrist. "About this whole circumstance. Some things don't add up for me."

"I want to answer them, Jane," she told him. "Whatever it is you need to ask me."

"My first question is are we together? Was last night really a mistake to you?" he asked her.

Lisbon looked back down at her son and then to Jane. "No," she told him. "It wasn't."

Jane smiled widely at her. "That's good to know." His face got serious. "You said Riley has primary custody of Aiden. Why? What happened?"

"Before we get into all that, could you help me? Aiden's foldable crib is under my bed. Could you get it and set it up down here?" Lisbon asked.

Jane looked down and smiled at the sleeping toddler. He looked like Teresa so much, all save the sandy hair on his little head. He got to his feet and looked at Lisbon, holding out his hand to help her to her feet. Before Lisbon could even react, Jane brought her tight against him, his hand sliding to her waist.

"I'm not going anywhere, Teresa. I'll get to know that baby down there on the floor, and I will love him. I already do. Stop worrying if I am going to leave. I can sense your fear," he told her against her ear. "I'm here to stay."

With that, he let her go, kissed her cheek, and went to retrieve Aiden's crib from under her bed. Once she knew he was gone and out of earshot, she sighed, looked down at her boy and glanced back at the stairs.

"Are you really sure about that, Jane?" she asked to the empty room. "It's not this easy."

Ten minutes later, baby Aiden was resting comfortably in the crib Jane put together, and Jane was watching the toddler twitch peacefully in his slumber as Lisbon made him a cup of tea for his trouble with pinching his finger while unfolding the crib. He took the tea from her gratefully and sipped it as he continued to watch baby Aiden.

"It's been a while since I saw a baby sleeping," Jane told her quietly. "Not since..." he trailed off, taking a sip of his tea. "It's a beautiful thing to witness again, Teresa."

Lisbon put a hand on Jane's back and rubbed it gently. "He usually cries around strangers," Lisbon told him. "You're already doing well." She laughed.

"Are you going to tell me why your husband has primary custody of your child, Teresa?" Jane asked, turning to her and placing the cup down on the table beside him. "Why doesn't his mother, who obviously loves this child very much, have him?"

Lisbon sighed and turned away from Jane, sitting down on the couch. Jane reluctantly followed her, sitting beside her, but not taking his eyes off the baby in the crib. They were silent for a brief few minutes before Lisbon finally spoke.

"Riley has primary custody because he can't accept that I don't want to be married to him anymore, Jane," she said quietly. "He's very good at getting what he wants."

"What does this mean?"

"It means," Lisbon said, sighing and placing a hand through her hair, "that he got a favorable judge to grant his wish. I have him on holidays, mainly," she explained. "Or whenever Riley decides to let me see him. He came here yesterday because Riley lets me see him on weekends at his place."

"What do you mean by a _favorable_ decision?" Jane asked loudly. "Why did they not grant you custody of your own son? What did that bastard say to them? What did he LIE about?" he yelled, accidentally waking up Aiden who was crying.

Lisbon got up and reached in, picking up her crying son and bouncing him up and down to soothe him. Jane stood and reached out for the little one. Lisbon transferred him to Jane, and the baby automatically stopped crying, wiping his eyes and hugging himself to Jane's chest.

"I am really sorry, little baby boy," he told the toddler, kissing his temple. "I didn't mean to make you cry. It's okay. Shh. You okay?"

"No!" Aiden said, hugging himself even closer to Jane. "Up!"

Jane took that to mean he was upset Jane had woken him up. "Sorry, little baby boy."

"Jane," Lisbon said softly. "I don't have my son because of you. Not Riley."

"What?" Jane asked, rubbing Aiden's head with his hand.

"The judge wouldn't grant me custody because of _you_."

"Because of me?" Jane's stopped bouncing Aiden and tilted his head in disbelief at her statement. "What does that mean?"

"Well, when you left, we stood up to Abbott and his FBI cronies, remember? We were arrested and charged with aiding you," Lisbon explained, running a hand through her dark locks. "That's a felony, Jane. It's also public record. We kept our jobs because Bertram, the director, saw our close ratings. Of course, he forgot about you..."

"The judge used that against you?" Jane asked, lifting his hand to let Aiden play with his fingers. "No, let me guess. Your husband used that as his crutch!"

"When Aiden turned a year old, primary custody went to Riley. That's when we decided to split. He also told the judge that I had PTSD from this whole Red John mess. They don't take too kindly to that, Jane."

Jane lifted Aiden to his hip and brushed back the baby's hair, taking his time before his eyes swung back to Lisbon. "He used your nightmare problem as leverage. That dirty..." he trailed off, lifting Aiden higher on his hip. "Rat."

"Yeah, well, at least I get to see him," Lisbon told Jane.

"You can't let them do this to you or to this precious boy, Teresa! You are a good mother!"

"You were gone for most of Aiden's life," she told him. "How do you know?"

"Because I know Teresa Lisbon enough to know that her child is important to her. What happened to the fierce Lisbon I left? Who would rather go down fighting for her son then let the courts win? Let her," he reached over and covered Aiden's ear with his hand, "asshole husband lie and use faulty public records to keep her own son from her?" He released Aiden's ear and sat the finicking toddler on the floor, watching him climb on the carpet and lift himself to lean on the ottoman.

"The judge would have given him full custody, Jane," Lisbon reasoned. "I didn't want to piss him off. It was better than nothing, okay?"

Jane decided to leave this part alone. He'd discuss this further when the baby was asleep. He watched Lisbon kneel down and help her son as he climbed along the ottoman. Aiden tapped gently on the footstool and requested that his mom lift him "up". Jane watched as Lisbon gave in to her son's want and lifted him onto the squishy footrest, making sure she balanced him safely on it. His little hands pushed out and grabbed a handful of Jane's vest material, smiling at his mother as he twisted a shiny button.

"No, Aiden. You can't play with those," she told him, pulling his hands from Jane's vest.

Aiden whined, squirming to get back to the buttons. "No! Play!"

"Let him go, Teresa," Jane said, pushing his vest toward the child. "He likes it." She sighed and let Aiden lean forward and grab Jane's black vest button.

"I'm going to do everything I can for this little baby, Teresa," he said abruptly. "Whatever you need, I will provide. Time, money, love. Hell, I am already neck-high in love with this kid," Jane told her. "His mother, too. I want to be here for you both. I want to be in his life, Teresa."

"Jane, I..." Lisbon started to say.

Jane stopped her. "I know he's not mine. I don't care about that. If that is why you think last night was a mistake, you can stop thinking that way, Teresa. But there is one thing."

"What?"

"I know one thing I want from our arrangement, Teresa."

"There's more than one?" Lisbon's eyebrow lifted.

"Yes," he told her honestly.

"Okay, then," she said, watching Jane kneel on the other side of the ottoman and watching as Aiden turned to him and smiled. "What is it?"

Jane just smiled. "I'll tell you when the time is right, Teresa. I promise."

* * *

Riley Dallon was absolutely furious. When Lisbon had explained that Jane was there for a reason, she hadn't elaborated, and he hadn't asked her to expand on that. Seeing him trying to sneak out her apartment door wasn't hard to figure out just what reason it was for his presence, though. He was flaunting a sexual relationship with her. He could feel the dislike emanating from Patrick Jane, and the feeling was completely mutual. Patrick Jane had screwed up their marriage. Hell, he had screwed up their courtship! His letters had fed his wife full of thoughts and feelings. Riley thought dating her might help her to forget that bastard ever left her. But, instead, dating her only made her that much more longing for the man who fled oceans apart from her.

He still loved Lisbon, and he loved his little boy. Though he hadn't wanted to marry Lisbon, it had little to do with the fact he didn't love her. He did. It had to do with the fact he didn't want talk to get around and destroy his chance at joining the FBI, to which this business trip was taking him. He couldn't imagine the bigwigs down in Quantico getting hold of Riley Dallon knocking up his own partner and then ditching her without marrying her. It also had to do with the fact that Patrick Jane was so encrusted in Teresa's mind, that it was as if he wasn't even her boyfriend-turned-husband; it was as if Patrick Jane was, and he was just the tryst.

Riley just laughed at that. How things have reversed. Jane was becoming the "husband", and he was the jealous lover. Oh, and he was jealous. He didn't want anyone touching his wife or his son. They were his family. The only reason he left Aiden with Teresa, even after seeing that Jane had apparently slept over, was because he had to. Otherwise, he would have rubbed the fact that Aiden was his with Teresa in Jane's face. The guy's history with keeping his own kid safe was not good. His daughter was murdered, according to his own team members and a quick search of Google. Left with an eighteen-month-old, he hoped his record would improve.

He stopped for gas at a gas station just outside of Sacramento. As the gas flowed from the pump, Riley took out his cell phone and dialed a number he frequented. Waiting for the other party to answer, he pulled the nozzle from his gas tank and hung it up. Thankful he prepaid, he got in his car just as the voice on the other end answered.

"Judge Hilton," he greeted, smiling at the old man's voice. "Riley Dallon. I was calling because I have some things to address with you," he told him. "I thought we could meet."

He waited as the old man rattled off his agenda. He was old friends with Judge Samuel Hilton. His father had been a District Attorney for Hilton back when the judge was living in Maine. His transfer to Sacramento was a lucky, happy event. The judge was more than happy to oblige him on any topic and often granted his request for warrants and depositions quickly. He also happened to have issued the custody rendering they had now.

"As soon as feasible," he replied. "This is in regards to asking the court for permanent custody of Aiden, and to file a motion with the court to move out-of-state with my son."

* * *

It was a little after Aiden ate and got a nice warm sink bath that Jane took the freshly bathed toddler in his arms and followed Lisbon up the stairs and to the door that was always closed. Lisbon opened the door and Jane walked inside, noting the silver and white motif that flickered through the small nursery. He took in a crib over on the far wall, a changing table to the left, and a small, white rocking chair on the right side. The walls were painted white, but there were silver etchings of teddy bears on the bottom to fit into the motif. There was also a gray shag carpet on the floor with a large, brown teddy bear embroidered on it.

"Wow," Jane whispered, looking around. "This is amazing."

"He loves it," Lisbon told him. "He's in a stuffed animal phase."

Jane nodded his head and placed the half-asleep Aiden in the crib, reaching to cover him with the bluish-silver blanket. He stood there for a moment reflecting on the days when he had looked down upon Charlotte's sleeping form, watching her as she drifted into sleep and peaceful dreams. He turned to Lisbon and reached out to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her to his side.

"This morning, when I woke up, I didn't even know you had a child," he told her. "You were acting so strange and I wondered why on many occasions when you were so cold and distant with me," Jane said. "Now I know why. You had a beautiful baby boy and I left you so much that you were scared I'd do it again."

"Jane, do you think we could discuss this another time? I really, really, want to go to bed," she whispered. "I was awoken early this morning..." she trailed off.

His eyes flashed in knowing as she looked up at him. Jane took one more look at Aiden and pulled Lisbon by her hand, turning off Aiden's room light and closing his door a crack. He led her across the hall to their bedroom, closing the door behind them and immediately turning himself to press her against the door with his body, pinning her gently, his lips finding hers, pressing firmly as her hands found his neck and small of his back.

His hand slid into her black V-neck, coasting over her skin. She was bra-less, a fact that Jane appreciated. His palm squeezed her flesh gently as his thumb pad flicked the bud, causing her to moan against his mouth. This excited him more, as he reached his free arm around her waist and lifted her so that she was forced to clasp her thighs around his waist.

"What are—Jane!" she laughed against his mouth as he held onto her, lifting her away from the door and walking over to the bed's edge.

"Shh," he told her huskily. "We have a baby in the house now, Teresa." He kissed her hard to emphasize his point, setting them gently down on the mattress. Lisbon automatically unclasped her thighs from his waist and scooted up the bed.

"He's a sound sleeper," she assured him in a low voice, watching Jane climb over her, pressing himself against her. "If he could sleep through my screams at night, he can sleep through you taking claim."

"Staking claim?" Jane asked her. "What do you mean? Like you are mine? I am yours?"

She momentarily lost concentration when Jane pulled the collar of her shirt back and he brought his lips to the soft skin above her breast. The feel of his warm mouth on her flew through her like flames in the wind, licking and ebbing through her veins from the tip of her head to the bottom of her feet, making the parts that mattered warm and wanting.

"Well—well," she stammered, feeling his fingers on his other hand fall to her outer thigh and rake his fingernails up the material of her jeans. "If you can accept my son into your life, I'd like to be your claim," she told him. "You know that."

"Hmm," Jane said, pulling back the material of her shirt further so that her breast was exposed. "I do love your son, already, though we just officially met," he laughed. "And you know I love you, Teresa. I don't think we have a problem, here."

She was going to reply, but he took her nipple into his mouth and puckered his rough lips around it, causing her to arch her back, meeting his hips with hers. His tongue flicked the small bud as his palm brought it up closer into his moist mouth. He traveled his mouth up from her breast to the column of her throat, kissing her under the chin.

"No problem," she told him unevenly. "You're mine."

"And I am yours," he told her, kissing her lips gently, pushing his fingertips up to lift the bottom of her shirt.

It was as his hand was drifting over her belly that they heard Aiden's broken crying from his room. Jane dropped his forehead on her chest and sighed. Lisbon laughed and put her two hands in his hair.

"So much for a sound sleeper," Jane told her. "Impeccable timing, Aiden."

"Why don't you go over and try to get him to sleep? I'll wait here," she told him, coasting her hands down to either side of his head and lifting his face so his eyes met hers. "Naked."

"Naked?" His eyebrows lifted. "How daring!"

Jane kissed her and got up from the bed, walking to the door before turning around at her voice.

"Thank you for loving him, Jane," she told him. "For loving me even after all of the stuff I kept from you."

"Don't, Teresa," he told her. "It'll take a lot more than a crappy husband and a beautiful, innocent baby boy to keep me from you."

"All the same."

He nodded and walked out of the room to the crying child. Lisbon still didn't know what he wanted, but he did. And, when he told her, he hoped she'd allow him. Hell, even if she didn't, he didn't care. He would still do it, anyway.

"Shh, baby!" he said, walking into Aiden's nursery. "I was just about to show your mommy a good time!" he said under his breath.

"Dada!" Aiden cried.

"Shh," Jane told the baby. "It's okay. I'm here, okay?"

Aiden was standing up, his little hand clasping the slats of the crib, his other hand pointing at Jane, crying. Jane reached in and lifted the toddler. Remembering the rocking chair he saw earlier in the corner, he turned himself and sat in it, sitting Aiden in his lap and rocking gently to and fro.

"So, I know I just met you," Jane said to Aiden, calming the child with soft strokes on the back, "but you're a pretty special little guy. You've been around all this time, and I didn't even know it. But you know what, Aiden? It doesn't matter." He patted the child on the head. "You matter. Your mom matters."

"Ta!" Aiden said to Jane, his tears subsiding. "Mama!"

"Yes, mommy!" Jane told him, making a face at Aiden. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Aiden nodded his head and brought his hands up to touch Jane's face. The little hands on his face made Jane's heart leap. It had been so long for all of this. So very long. Jane smiled at the child and kissed his little fingers.

"I'm going to ask your mommy something, Aiden. Something important. Would you like to know what that is?"

Aiden giggled and bounced in Jane's lap. "Ta!" Aiden said.

"Okay. I'll whisper it in your ear," Jane said.

Jane brought his lips to the toddler's ear and whispered, causing Aiden to giggle. "Sounds good, huh?" Jane said. "Well, then it is settled."

Jane rocked back and forth as Aiden played with Jane's face, vest buttons, and fingers. After a while, the child tuckered himself out enough to yawn and lie reclined in Jane's arms. Jane kissed Lisbon's son on his forehead and stood to place him in the crib. This time, Aiden was out like a light.

"Goodnight, Aiden," Jane whispered. "Sleep well."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hi, and thank you so much for your reviews last chapter. I wasn't sure if people were still reading this! I've got two jobs now, so it is a little harder to update. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Enjoy! I'm also loving all the hatred for Riley... :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Non-Commital**

* * *

Lisbon was naked like she promised when he got into her room forty-five minutes later, but she was also nearly asleep. He grinned down at her as he stripped off his own clothing and slid within the tepid sheets in his boxers. His body gravitated against her bare back, his arms reaching out to encircle her waist, his hands splaying transversely on her belly. His lips kissed the nape of her neck, causing her to stir and moan drowsily.

"You awake, love?" he asked between kisses behind her ear. "I came back and you were delightfully naked, but also disappointingly asleep."

He heard her chuckle sleepily and turn herself to face him, her eyes half-lidded with sleep and a smile on her face. "Almost asleep," she corrected. "You took too long with Aiden," she told him. "He stopped whining five minutes after you left me."

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered, laying a blazing hand on her exposed butt. "I was discussing some things with your son. We had a pleasant talk," he told her, leaning in to kiss her lips.

"Oh?"

"His use of the word 'ta' was very enlightening," Jane murmured. "Very educational."

She kissed him lightly and brought a hand up to lazily billow through his hair. She loved that he was being so tender with her son, whom he only just realized she even had. Not only that, but he was still here with her even after all her pretenses. He was committing to her. To Aiden.

"I don't want to kill this little mood of yours," Lisbon said, "but he's a baby. He can't have pleasant talks," she teased.

Jane's hand traveled from her bare butt to the curve of her spine, lightly urging her against him, her warm, ample breasts pressing into his chest. He pulled back a whisper and tipped his head. His blueish-green eyes plated hers, intense and persistent.

"What?" she questioned. "If you want to make love, Jane, you better do it before Aiden wakes back up or I fall asleep. If that occurs, you just be sure to cover me up when you are finished," she snorted.

"I asked him something," Jane told her, bringing his free hand up to cup her cheek. "He was very serious in his reply."

"Mmm," Lisbon told him. "And what did you ask?"

Jane smiled and shook his head. "Not yet," he told her. "Soon."

"Okay," she said. "Well, he's asleep, and we have two options, here," she yawned. "Which one do we take? Sleep or sex? Or both at the same time?"

"How about I stake my claim, as we called it? If you'd let me?" Jane asked seductively. "Finish what I started this morning?"

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

Jane elevated himself enough to move his hands to her shoulders, pressing her flat on the mattress. He leaned over her as his hands coasted around her collar bone, past her bare shoulders, dipping past her breasts (taking care to linger at her nipples), and belly until his palm rose just above her pubic bone. His fingers inched slowly down toward the curls between her groin as he bent to kiss her lips.

She gasped as she felt the slight tickle of his fingers at the annex of her heat. In automatic response, she opened herself up by lifting her legs up and rolling her hips out. He slid his curved fingers down further until he was at her entrance. He could feel that she was wet already in anticipation. Slowly, he slipped his index finger inside her core, making her pant against his mouth as he crooked his finger at the knuckle.

"Jane..." she whispered, placing her fingers around his wrist between her legs.

"Shh," he told her. "Don't wake up the baby."

He moved his finger inside her in a compact circle, causing her to whine softly. As she lubricated his fingers, he pressed his middle finger inside her, crooking it from the knuckle. His speed was lazy and torturous at first, making her fingers tighten steadfastly over his wrist as he moved in a semi-circle.

"Everything all right?" Jane asked, listening as she whimpered with each pass of him inside her.

"Yes, yes!" she told him desperately, relishing him stroking her.

She was seeing fireworks in all variations as she felt his fingers inside her. They were exploding all around her in dark, colorful bursts. The feeling of elation buzzed from her in waves as his fingers kept up their torturing explorations. She was on the edge, now, and there was no turning back. She had to make the leap.

He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose as his rhythmic pace picked up, his fingers fervently stretching her as she moved her hips up to get more contact and leverage with his fingers.

"Jane, uh!" she called out as he felt her come, contracting around his fingers. Her free hand pushed out to grip his shoulder. "Oh, God."

Jane kissed her lips as she came a second time. He pulled his fingers out of her and pressed his hand flat against her belly. He reached his lips to her ear and breathed unevenly with the intensity of feeling her orgasm.

"Claim laid," he told her, kissing her earlobe and skin behind her ear.

"It's yours," she told him raggedly.

He smiled and let her body come down from the high before he pulled her against his chest once more and kissed her bare shoulder. It felt good to give her what she wanted. Both her desire and a peaceful night's sleep.

"Are you still awake, Teresa?" he asked her after a few moments.

It was now or never. He had waited over a decade to be this far with Teresa, and he had known he wanted to do this since he came back. The opportunity never announced itself, but he had to take the time given to him. He knew her secrets, now, and they didn't scare him away. Nothing in Teresa Lisbon's life could ever scare him away. Certainly not now that he had met Aiden or made love to her. He couldn't drop everything and leave them. He wouldn't. He already loved them. What he was about to ask her was huge. But it was important to him.

He'd never tell her how many nights on that stupid island that he dreamed of this. Of him pleasing her and holding her close at night. He would never tell her how many times he fantasized about having children with her. Though Aiden was not his, his heart was already tattooed with this kid's name on it. Patrick Jane was utterly at the mercy of a little baby and a woman who only sought him for his power to keep her dreams pleasant and sweet.

"Yeah," she said.

"I love you," he told her. "You know that already."

"I do," she replied.

"And you love me."

"Yes."

"I've asked Aiden, this," he said, pressing his lips to her ear. "He was okay with it."

"Spill it, Jane," Lisbon laughed.

Jane was silent for a minute; a deep, reflective minute. "I want you to marry me, Teresa."

"What?" she asked, half-laughing, pushing away from him and sitting up.

Jane followed her and sat up, placing a hand into his hair apprehensively.

"I want you to be my wife. That's not all," he told her instantly, watching her expression change.

"Oh, really?"

"I want to formally adopt Aiden as my son, Teresa," he said quietly. "I want all of you, and he is included. I love that little boy. I was a goner as soon as I saw him, Teresa." Jane sighed. "I want him to be mine. I want both of you to be mine."

"You do know I'm already married, right?" she laughed. "And my son is with my husband most of the time? My custody is minimal?"

"Unhappily, and getting out of it, yes," he responded. "I mean once the divorce is done. I want to fill his vacancy, Teresa." He didn't bother with the custody issue. He'd address that later.

"Jane... we've only been... I mean, we are only just together that way for a few days," she said, turning to him and covering herself with the sheet.

"We _love_ each other. Besides, we've essentially been married since we _met_ , Teresa. The two years and the six months aside, we weathered a lot of crap," he told her. "We've only just consummated things last night, but the marriage has basically been unofficial for _years_."

She was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Jane, I would love to say yes," she told him. "I really would."

"Then do it," he replied, smiling. "Make me the happiest man in the world and let me be your husband and father to your son. Let me have a family again, Teresa."

"Jane..."

The smile slipped from his face when he realized Lisbon was declining his proposal. His joy fell away and was replaced by the sting of rejection. He watched her twist to turn on the bedside lamp and extract herself from the sheets. They were both silent as he watched her move toward her dresser and pull open a drawer, lifting panties and a t-shirt from their places and putting them on.

"You don't want to marry me," he said matter-of-factually. "Why?"

She paced at the edge of the bed, crossing her arms and biting her lip. She looked at him and sighed. "It's not you, it's me," she told him.

"The dreaded line no male wants to hear," Jane stated softly.

"I'm serious," she told him. "I've been hurt before with this whole marriage thing, Jane. It was bad for me. It was bad for Aiden. It still is. I can't go through that again, Patrick. It's why I took off from Greg. Why I told Riley I couldn't do it anymore. I didn't want to get hurt."

"I'm not your husband, Teresa," he answered. "I'm **not** Riley. I'd never hurt you, Teresa. Ever."

"Jane," Lisbon said, coming around and crawling back into the bed and sitting on her legs, facing him. "I appreciate the thought and the fact you love Aiden, but I really don't think I want to get married again. I just don't think I am cut out for it."

"If you married the right man, you might be cut out for it," he told her.

"Jane..." she sighed. "I mean this with the best intentions, but if they took my son from me for having nightmares and what happened with McAllister, what makes you think they'd let you adopt Aiden? I don't have to explain it. You know what I mean."

"I understand," he whispered dejectedly.

Lisbon slid herself into the sheets alongside Jane and placed her head on his chest. His arms came to enfold her and his cheek burrowed in her hair. She was silent for a long time. They both were. He only hoped she didn't feel the tears dropping into her hair from his eyes.

* * *

Riley Dallon sat in Judge Hilton's judicial chambers, his finger tapping his bottom lip as he waited for the old man to finish up another parental custody case. He looked around in familiarity at the room; the old wood desk, the dark maroon paint on the walls, the pictures of the Judge's wife and kids in a photo on his desk. It was all familiar. He'd been here not a year ago asking him to rule in his favor when it came to his son with Teresa.

He had stopped off to see the Judge special before he went to the airport to fly to Quantico for his interview with the FBI. He'd get there just in time for it, but this was important. This was his pawn in this divorce or not game.

He didn't like playing dirty with Teresa. In fact, when she kicked him out of her apartment and told him she wanted a divorce, he had been amicable at first. However, as time went by, he had gotten angry and despondent over her refusal to give him another chance and show their son that he had two parents in love. Kids are impressionable, and he wanted his son to be in a good, healthy atmosphere. That environment was one he could manage. One he could observe. Teresa alone with his son with her... issues, just wasn't something he was willing to let happen. If she wouldn't take him back and let him be there with her for their baby, then he would take control of Aiden and force Teresa to come back to him. So far, it hadn't worked. But this...this would. And Patrick Jane would be nothing to her once again.

"Sorry I'm late," Judge Hilton said from behind him, closing his chamber door and stepping up to his desk. "Riley! We have to make this brief. I have another case in twenty minutes. Lots of people getting divorced," Hilton said, sitting down. "Want to know why that is, Riley?"

"No, sir," he told the Judge. "Why is that?"

"Because they got married!" the Judge laughed, pounding his meaty fist on his desk. "Oh, I love my job!"

Riley laughed at him as he watched him drag a file from the heap on his desk and open it. The Judge's eyes scanned the file and looked back at Riley, leaning forward on his desk and sighing.

"You want me to grant you permission for full custody? As well as an out-of-state petition for Aiden Patrick Dallon?" the Judge inquired. "You want to take the little custody I surrendered to your wife and allow you to move with him, correct?"

"Yes," he told Hilton. "Pretty much. I might be getting a job cross-country. I'd like my son to come with me."

Hilton sighed. "You know I love you like a son, Riley. I really do. The only reason I gave you primary custody of that boy is because you brought me proof that your wife has had...issues with her mental health and a felony for helping an escaped con, and some other charges related to that whole debacle."

"That's why I am here, Sam," Riley told him, pressing himself forward. "She's shacking up with Patrick Jane. They're lovers."

"Are you afraid for Aiden's safety?" Sam asked, leaning back, his face screwed up in thought. "The guy has a rap sheet at the CBI for being unruly, and he's been off-the-hook for quite a few murders."

"Exactly. I don't want him around my son, Sam," Riley told him. "And Teresa is head-over-heels in love with this jackass. She doesn't see him for what we do. I don't want my son subjected to that."

Sam Hilton bowed his head. "I can see your concern. It's a very disturbing development. An innocent child around a man who kills with no remorse and gets a free card. No child should be subordinate to that."

"So, you'll award me full custody of Aiden and the petition to move?" Riley asked.

"You're sure she is actually involved with this man?"

"I discovered them in bed together yesterday morning, Sam."

Sam breathed deeply. "Alright. I will set up a date for the informal hearing. I can't promise you anything, Riley."

"I understand," Riley replied, standing up and shaking Sam's hand. "Thank you, Sir."

"Yeah, yeah! Tell your mom and dad I said hello!"

"I will!"

Riley got up and left Sam Hilton's judicial chambers feeling better than ever. Teresa had two alternatives: get back with him and kick that son of a bitch to the curb, or lose her son because she wants to lay up with a known ex-fugitive and murderer. The ball was officially in Lisbon's court.

The mental issues Judge Hilton had referred to was the birdy in his ear that she would wake up screaming at night, scaring the baby and causing Aiden to have his own nightmares. Riley knew it was a little exaggerated, but it did the trick. The court automatically looked into her records and found her felony arrest for aiding and abetting a fugitive in the commission of a crime. He had just subtly steered the Judge to the fact that they had found her service weapon at the scene of two of the murders Jane committed. A charge she did not deny. Though the weapon was never used or discharged, she still was found guilty of reckless endangerment. It was enough to allow Aiden to be placed with him ninety percent of the time.

 _The ball was most definitely in her court._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I believe it was this chapter that my liking for this story waned. I hope it doesn't show too much. I appreciate you staying with it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Malevolent**

* * *

He was still trying to wrap his head around her rejection as he stared at her sleeping form the next morning. He understood her rejection, but it still stung. He wanted to be an honest man for her and Aiden. Though she wasn't exactly saying she'd never marry him or allow him to be like a father to Aiden, it felt like it.

He could hear Aiden waking up in his nursery, the little boy gurgling and laughing softly. Jane turned to kiss Lisbon's cheek and lifted himself from the bed. He tiptoed out of the room and over to Aiden's room, smiling as he saw the baby had gotten up and was holding onto the side of the crib.

"Hi, there, baby boy," he told him, reaching in to pick up the small child. "Mommy is sleeping, so how about you and I go find you some breakfast? Would you like that?" He scrunched his nose and shook his head slightly. "After we get you a fresh diaper. Phew, Aiden!" he laughed.

Aiden giggled and went to play with the buttons of his pajama shirt. Jane took the little boy over to the small changing station and took to task changing his diaper. Aiden giggled and kicked his legs when Jane tried to get them back in his little pajama bottoms, so he just left him in his diaper and shirt.

"Mommy will soon have to potty train you," he told the boy, carrying him out of the nursery and down the stairs. "Maybe I can help."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't act like you are his father," a cold voice said from the kitchen. "Thanks."

Jane turned toward the voice and found Riley sitting there, his feet propped up on the chair beside him. Jane looked at Riley for a full few seconds before he cleared his throat and held on tighter to Aiden.

"Teresa might let you waltz around here like you own my son, but I won't." He put his feet on the kitchen floor and smiled a false smile. "I really don't like you sleeping over, or with my wife when my son is here."

"Because you aren't nearly a bad influence when you take him from his mother," Jane answered back. "You hand him off to a nanny or to Lisbon like he's a sack of potatoes you can't wait for someone else to cook."

Riley stood, walking over and taking Aiden out of Jane's hands. "At least my kid is alive. My wife, too, but I won't hold that one against you."

Jane could feel his insides boiling. He wanted to punch this guy in the throat, but he knew that he couldn't do that to a cop. Besides, he didn't want Aiden to witness all of this.

"At least I didn't dump my wife and infant son when I found out I didn't really want to be a dad. I'd never use Lisbon's past or her current situation against her. You, on the other hand, are a goddamn monster. You think you own Teresa and Aiden. You may be blood, Riley, but that doesn't make a good father and husband. It's no wonder Teresa left you."

Riley smiled at that. "I'm still married to her. Legally separated, yes. But still married, nonetheless. But here you are! Fucking her without a care in the world! You don't have a good track record, Patrick. From what Teresa has told me, you have no room to talk about me."

It was Jane's turn to laugh. "You're delusional."

"What? Because I had Teresa first? You want her, but I bet she doesn't want you, does she? She is a convenience for you and she knows it. How long before you leave her again? Two years? Five years? Or will you go your wife and daughter's route and kill her, too?"

"That's not fair."

"Oh, but it is," Riley said, sitting down with Aiden on his lap. "You are a criminal. You bring death and despair wherever you go, Patrick. See, I know a lot about you. How you gave Lisbon a mark on her criminal history? How you left her to pick up your mess? How you will corrupt my son if I let you near him? I can't have that, Patrick. And if Lisbon won't protect her son, then I, as his father, have that obligation. And I will do it."

"What are you talking about?" Jane asked though he thought he had a good idea.

"Nothing. Listen, Patrick," Riley said, watching as Aiden stretched his hands out for Jane and scooted in his lap. "I can't have you around my son. You must be good in bed because that is the only reason I know of that Teresa would allow you around him."

"Don't talk about her that way!" Jane said, stepping forward.

"Get out." Riley pointed to the front door. "Get out of here. If I see you around my son again, I will be forced to take action."

"Teresa-"

"Doesn't have primary custody. I do. Get out."

Jane said nothing as he took a look at Aiden and watched the child reach out for him. Jane sighed, walked to the apartment door, and exited, leaving Riley and Aiden alone.

* * *

Her respiration slowed down as she turned herself around to face the doorway. From behind her, she felt the tug and the electric racing through her veins. She dropped to the mattress and she saw the hulking shadow hover over her from under her darkened eyelids. The gleaming linoleum knife flashing in his hand as he scraped blood from it with his gloved fingers.

She felt him place the blood on her face and... a baby cry? Lisbon stirred herself and her eyes flew open. She sat up swiftly and realized that she was sweating extensively, but also noticed that the warmth of a body was missing from beside her. She turned to confirm that Jane was gone, and it was affirmed. His side of the bed was empty.

Lisbon turned and got out of bed, heading over to Aiden's room where she thought the singing was coming from. When she got there, however, Aiden was gone from his crib.

"Jane?" Lisbon called, following the faint singing, which she now thought was originating from downstairs.

She climbed down the stairs, pushing her frizzy hair from her face and turned to the small kitchen where she spied Riley, Aiden on his lap, singing Aiden's favorite song, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and feeding him cereal.

"I told him to leave," Riley said, stopping his melodic song. "He was prancing around here like Aiden was his own. He is my goddamn son, Teresa. Not his."

"Weren't you supposed to have a case for a few days?"

"I did. Got finished early and took the red-eye back," he replied. "I came to check on Aiden."

Lisbon sighed and leaned against the fridge door. She stared at her husband for a long time, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him to go screw himself without upsetting their son. Who the hell was Riley to come in here and order her company around? Riley never came around while she had Aiden any other time. If he did, it was just to pick him up or drop him off.

"He's my son, too, Riley. Who are you to say who comes around here, anyway? You don't have a say, anymore," she told him, coming to sit in the chair opposite her husband and son. "What did you say to him?"

"The truth," he replied, allowing Lisbon to take Aiden as the little boy held out his hands for his mom. "What you should be saying to him."

"And what's that?" she replied, wiping Aiden's mouth of milk with his feeding bib. "That you still think we have something? That you still think I am in love with you?" She laughed at the absurdity.

"Among other things, Teresa," he said, nodding his head, watching his squirming son in his wife's arms. "I also might have mentioned that I don't want him hanging around my son. He's trouble, Teresa. He's a criminal."

"He was given amnesty," she told him with an undercurrent of impatience. "You know that."

"Oh, I am aware," Riley answered, smiling. "I am also aware that he is a serial murderer, and the only reason he even got that pardon was because the FBI was so deep in shit they had to do something." Riley leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. "He's not a good person, Teresa. Not for you or for Aiden. Hell, he left you for two years and had you pining after him like a dog."

"He didn't have—" she started to say.

"He did, Teresa!" he interjected loudly. "I used to watch you read his letters almost every night! You talked about him when I met you, and you were talking about him till the day they came to get Aiden. He brainwashed you! He has you thinking he is some stand-up guy!" Riley stood and walked over to put Aiden's bowl in the sink. "He's damaged goods, Teresa. He wants what he once had. A wife and child. You just happen to fill that nothingness for him."

Lisbon shook her head and stood, walking through the small kitchen and into the living room, depositing Aiden into the foldable crib and turning back to Riley, who was just inches from her, his arms crossed.

"You don't get to talk about him like that," she said through gritted teeth. "You don't know him."

"Teresa, you don't know him, either. He sees you as an opportunity to be a "do-over". You and Aiden are just people to fill the space left after his old family was hacked to death!" Riley told her. "He'll never protect you like I can."

Before she could stop herself, she slapped him hard across the face, bringing a hand up to her mouth at her own outburst. She turned from her husband, checking to see if Aiden had witnessed it. He hadn't. He was playing with his toys, his back to them.

"It's like that, huh?" Riley asked, chuckling darkly. "If you let my son around that criminal, you are just as bad as he is. I'll be back for my son tomorrow morning."

Riley turned and opened the door, exiting and slamming it shut behind him. Lisbon let the tears come, sitting down on the couch and watching her precious son play with his blocks. Riley's words cut deep. Talking about Jane's family in that way was nothing she'd ever stand for. But did Riley have a point? Just last night, Jane had sprung marriage on her. Was he actually trying to fill the void? Was he only trying to replace his family with her and Aiden? She believed that he loved her and Aiden. She did. But that didn't mean that he wasn't trying to duplicate the past and only want them in his life to bring back what he once had.

She watched Aiden stand and hold onto the side of the crib, holding out a block with his one of his hands. Lisbon reached down and lifted her son up and put him on her lap. She took the block, which so happened to have P embossed on it. Lisbon tossed it back in the crib and kissed her son.

"Sad!" Aiden said, pointing to his mom and then mimicking the tears falling still.

"Come on, baby boy," she told him. "Let's go get you dressed, and then you can watch the singing dinosaur on TV."

* * *

Riley smiled to himself as he got in his car and headed away from her apartment. This little visit had been a success. It planted the seed of doubt in her head, but also made her outburst an intricate part of his defense when he asked for custody of his son. She had until the hearing to decide what she was going to do. Would she stick with the bum who killed people and walked away Scot-free, or would she come back to him so they could be a family? It was all up to her. Either way, he'd win. She could either come with him or she could stay here, but without her son.

He had been a tad harsh to Jane, but nothing that wasn't true. He had no doubt she told him some kind of story that he was the bad guy, taking her son from her and not allowing her to see him. He smiled as he pulled back into his apartment complex. His plan was in motion. All he had to do was sit back and let the shit hit the fan.

* * *

Patrick Jane sat in the booth at the back, his hands moving nervously as he glanced at the door to the bar. The usual stuffiness of the bar was gone as nobody was drinking their sorrows away at eight o'clock in the morning. His fingers tapped his glass in a mix of anger and sadness.

Riley Dallon painted himself like a good guy, but when it came to his private life, he was vindictive and evil. Looking at him, he was squeaky clean. But perhaps digging deeper into his core would allow Teresa some peace and quiet. Riley's harsh words to Jane had only solidified in his mind that this guy was a grade-A manipulator and diluted that Teresa still loved him enough to get back with him.

Jane saw them enter the bar and waved them over, sliding across the booth to make room for Cho. Rigsby and Van Pelt sat across from them, neither looking happy that he had disturbed their Sunday morning, which Jane suspected was spent in bed, making love. He yearned to be in that position with Teresa, but he supposed after her rejection last night and Riley's heated exchange with him this morning, he needed this time to think and reflect.

"Jane, it's a quarter after eight in the morning," Rigsby complained. "This better be good."

Jane leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and looked at each of the Agents, his eyes wandering over the features of their faces and wondering how they had gotten so good at hiding things. He guessed it was all the years of watching him. Learning from his deception techniques. He cleared his throat and slid his shot glass to the side, putting his hands flat on the marble tabletop.

"You guys have gotten good at hiding things," Jane told them. "Very good. For a year you kept up the secret that Lisbon was not only married but that she had a young son, too," he told them. "You knew it and you never uttered a word."

"Wasn't really our place," Rigby said, his face a mix of shame and defiance. "And boss asked us not to."

"I'm not mad," he assured them. "I actually called you here because I need your help." His eyes went from each of them as he spoke.

"With what?" Van Pelt asked, the reluctance already peeping through her words.

"I need to know if you saw or felt anything off with Riley Dallon," he told them. "Because from what I can gather for myself, this guy is an asshole and doesn't give two shits about that little boy or Teresa. She's an object to him. He thinks he owns her." He held up his hand.

Van Pelt cleared her throat. "He did seem a little...off. Mostly, he flirted with other women. I didn't like him much."

"Me, either," Rigsby agreed. "Even after he left the CBI, he'd call me to check up on the boss. Have me report what she was doing. I thought he was just concerned. You know? Cause she was pregnant?"

Cho sighed. "What's that have to do with us?"

"I need you to dig into his background. Something is not right, here. Something is off," Jane told them. "Riley Dallon is not who he wants people to believe. Please, guys. Just look into him for me."

Cho and Rigsby looked at Van Pelt, who was the computer whiz of them all. She sighed but nodded her head. "For Aiden."

"For Aiden," Jane repeated. "Thank you."

They ate breakfast together and departed, assuring Jane they'd look into Riley Dallon. Jane, on the other hand, had to head to Chicago. He had an important thing he had to do. With one last gulp of his Oolong tea, he got up and headed for the airport.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Shattered Glass**

* * *

Lisbon readied her son for his trip back to Riley's house. She looked at her baby boy happily playing with a stray curl of hers and her heart broke knowing she'd have to hand her son back. While she had some visitation and took full advantage of that, Riley didn't allow her to see her son as much as she liked.

That is why when she burst into tears as her son held her close, she embraced her little boy as tightly as she could and kissed his silken hair. It wasn't just that Aiden was leaving her again, it was that Jane had seemingly vanished. He hadn't come back since Riley had his run-in with him, and she didn't fault him. She just missed him. Sometimes, in the day that he had been missing, she would grow angry at him for not calling her or leaving a message for her at least. He merely took off again from her son and herself. Exactly like he did after he murdered Red John.

Last night, she must have tried to reach for him as her nightmare came on strong, because when she roused up, she had his pillow wrapped in her arms, her face buried into it as she screamed, waking Aiden up in the middle of the night. She had sat up and cried, unable to find consolation in his arms. Whatever had happened between Riley and Jane, Jane had taken it to heart and left.

She wondered if Riley was right. If he never really changed at all, he merely wanted a second chance at a family. Her family. She thought about how nonsensical that was, but she couldn't prevent it from popping up in her mind every so often. Even when she left a few messages for him, he hadn't picked up or bothered to answer her. She was once again lonely, and this time, there was nobody but Riley to turn to. Only she wouldn't turn to Riley. Not even if he was the last adult male on earth. He was Aiden's father by blood, but nothing more. The sole reason he had her son is because he lied and weaseled his way with the judge. She was a wonderful mother. But Riley had used her faults and past transgressions against her and had been so convincing.

The only man that had meant anything to her and had assumed her son without question, was the very same man she turned down marriage to. Only it wasn't intentional! She had been hurt before with marriage. Riley had been good for a while, but things had shifted. She knew he had only married her because she became pregnant and he had a reputation to handle. Once they were married and he demonstrated that he was an honorable man, he cut and run.

She heard her husband pull up outside. She kissed her son on his face and he leaned in to kiss his mother. She reached down to pick up his Mickey Mouse toy that was his favorite and tried not to cry in front of her son for fear she'd lose it and he'd get upset at his mother crying. The rap on the door startled her, and she held Aiden close as she answered it.

"Geeze, Teresa," he said as soon as she opened the door. "Isn't he a little too old to be playing with a damn mouse toy?"

"It's his favorite," she told him, jiggling the toy in front of Aiden. "I purchased it for him when he was first born. You know that."

"I also know that Aiden is almost two-years-old, Teresa," he told her, reaching out for Aiden. "He can keep that ugly baby toy here."

When Lisbon reached to give Aiden the mouse toy, Riley pushed it aside. Without his mouse toy, Aiden began to yell. Lisbon's face changed into an expression of ire. She grabbed Riley's wrist with her free hand and forced his hand down.

"If I want to give my son his favorite toy, I will. You've done enough damage around here. You want to push me or Jane around, fine. But you won't be pushing around our son. You will let him have his goddamn toy," she sounded out slowly, handing the mouse to Aiden. He quietened up as he hugged the stuffed mouse to his little body.

"Whatever. Speaking of Patrick Jane," he stated, shifting his son to the other side of him, "where is he? In your shower? Attempting to play daddy with my son by tidying up his room?"

Lisbon crossed her arms and sighed. "He never came back after you snuck into my apartment and waited to blast your useless opinions on him," she answered. "You captured what you wanted. Congratulations."

"No," he told his wife. "I didn't. I want you, but you don't want any part of that. You rather subject our son to a criminal and a psychotic master manipulator. You don't give two shits about our son!" He held up a hand to break off her protests. "If you did, you'd not allow him in your home. And don't use that nightmare BS, Teresa. You are the one that wouldn't get the court-mandated therapy. You have brought this all on yourself! I begged you to seek help, and you turned away. You let your pride take over. The mighty cop Teresa Lisbon doesn't need therapy! You should have done it for your SON!" he shouted, causing Aiden to whimper. "Sorry, buddy," he said to the child. "Mommy upset me."

"You are alleging this is all my fault?" she asked him indignantly. "You think I like waking up in the middle of the night screaming? Living almost dying over and over? You know damn well I didn't take that therapy because it wouldn't have helped! And you used that against me. Against our son!" She was enraged now. "You took that and you ran with it to Judge Hilton. Now that Jane is back and the nightmares have stopped with him, you know there is a big chance they will give me Aiden."

"You endure a record, Teresa," he reminded her. "For helping a murderer."

"I could get that expunged by the FBI, and you know it."

"By then," he told her, placing a hand in his jacket and flopping a folder he extracted from it onto the kitchen table beside him, "it'll be too late. It takes years to get it scratched. Even with the dear FBI on your end."

With that, Riley turned away from her and he and Aiden left the apartment. Lisbon watched as Riley strapped their son in his car seat and then backed out and away a few minutes afterward. Her eyes shifted to the large envelope on the table, and her heart dropped.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Stan asked, tilting against the door frame and crossing his arms. "She said you were back, but she doesn't really talk to us much." He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Teresa told you about me," he stated matter-of-factually. "I can see it in your eyes. Tense and standoffish."

"Yeah, well," Stan said, looking around at nothing before turning his stare back to Jane. "She told me enough."

"Right. I am here because I want to ask you about her husband."

"Riley Dallon? What about him?" Stan asked. "What did he do?"

Jane was taken aback by that question. "Seems you know him well, then."

"Enough to know he's a filthy, rotten asshole and if I ever see him again, I will hurt him. Cop or not," he articulated. "Come in. My wife will wonder what's going on."

Stan uncrossed his arms and let Jane pass, closing the door behind him. He led Jane past the busy living room with two or three young children watching cartoons, and into the kitchen just off the dining area. He indicated to a chair for Jane to sit down, taking the chair across from him. Stan's wife, Karen, was in the backyard, watching after a small boy blowing bubbles.

"That's my wife, Karen, and my little one Paul," he said, noticing Jane's look. "I presume you know about Aiden if you know about Riley, huh?"

"Yes," he told Lisbon's brother. "He's very...'

"He's an asshole," Stan finished. "No need to beat around the bush, Mr. Jane. He's just no good. I recognized it from the time she brought him to meet me, Tommy, Jimmy, and my wife," he replied. "I could smell something off about him. I grew up with a tough daddy. Learned to look for that kind of thing. Teresa, she was pregnant by then, and she was blinded by the fact she wanted her child to have a father. But I suspect she realized it, too."

"What do you mean by something off?" Jane swallowed the bile in his throat.

"He was trying too hard," Stan said. "You know? Like he was proving to be something he wasn't. When Teresa would tell us how they met and all that, he'd change the topic. It was like he didn't want to remember. Just seemed funny to me." Stan hesitated. "Is that why you came here? He do something to my sister?"

"No, no!" Jane said immediately. "Well, nothing yet. Your sister and I… We've uh… We've sort of come together," Jane told him. "It was out of mutual feelings," he assured him off his look. "But Riley hasn't taken it too well. He's not too happy that I am with her. He's using Aiden like a ping-pong ball of leverage."

"Sounds like him."

"Could I ask you why Lisbon chose to marry this idiot in the first place? I mean, lots of men grow up without father figures and turn out fine." Jane sighed. "You, for example. You had Teresa's influence. You seem to be a stand-up guy."

"We are Catholics," Stan told him, laughing. "If our mother and father knew she wasn't married when that baby came, they'd be rolling in their graves. And Teresa was dedicated to our mother. She'd never do that. Life wasn't exactly easy for her with you not around." Stan sat back in his chair. "She was a mess. Right up till that baby was born. Stuck in a marriage she didn't want and having a child. There was nowhere to go, Patrick."

"I understand. How did they split?"

"The way Karen tells me, Riley didn't want to be second fiddle to anyone. She didn't tell me this, but now that you are here, I suspect it was because of you."

"She did tell me something like that, but there had to be more," Jane pressed.

"She just had enough. But I suspect that if she knew he was going to use her past to get Aiden, she'd have sucked it up. Lying to a Judge, and manipulating the facts. Tore her up and took her son from her."

"Did Riley ever tell you anything about his past?" Jane inquired. "Anything that struck you as odd or anything?"

Stan thought for a long moment. "Not really. He did say he was going to train to be in the FBI, but I don't recall anything ever being said about it after that. He and Teresa never come here much. We saw Aiden one time. And that was when he was first born. That's why you hopping yourself on a plane to Chicago is a little suspicious. You come here to talk about Teresa, and you are living with her, aren't you? I'm worried about my sister and nephew."

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "I can see how that would worry you. I just wanted to see if there was anything I should know about this Riley Dallon before I destroy him."

A smile crept up on Stan's lips. "There is one thing."

Jane leaned forward toward Stan and waited for him to speak. "Yes?"

"When Teresa and Riley were just partners, she once called up Karen and told her about an incident that happened in a case of theirs. I don't know exactly what happened, but Teresa said she had to cover for him because it would have been a mark on his personnel file. Now, I don't know how true this is, but in these FBI shows on TV, they have to be squeaky clean. No blemishes. I think that is why he married my sister. They look at stable, wholesome households. For all they know, he and Teresa are just peachy. Still technically married. He had to marry her because she got pregnant. But Teresa knows about that mark. She knows he did something that could keep him out of the FBI. She knows what went down and she knows who it was against."

Jane knew what Stan was getting at. He smiled at her brother and stayed a little while longer, as Karen had come inside and offered him a cup of tea. They spoke of Lisbon's time while he was away. Stan had explained that his sister had changed. She had become withdrawn and lonely until her son had come along. The little boy had been a great stability in her life. That was until Riley had played his cards and had her son virtually taken from her.

After about another hour, Jane told them that he had to get back to California. His flight was set to leave in an hour. He thanked them and left. He was thankful that while Lisbon was in the shower, he had snooped in her address book by her phone and copied down their address. He found out quite a few things he could use. He was hoping that Van Pelt and the gang could find out more about this guy and his background, and he hoped that Lisbon wouldn't be too pissed he had hopped a plane to Chicago to interrogate her brother about Riley. Calling her brother would have been useless; he wanted to gauge his responses to his questions. He knew that Stan hated Riley, and he also knew that Teresa was unhappy. His expressions and microexpressions were consistent with everything he told Jane. He also secretly wanted to meet her brother. He hoped, one day, Lisbon would accept his proposal and be his wife and he would be Aiden's father.

Jane had a plan to formulate, and he had to hurry. For right now, though, he just wanted to go home to Teresa and Aiden. He wanted to feel her warm body next to his, and see her beautiful face when he woke up next to her. The feel of her skin under his fingers as he pulled her closer to him and caressed her soft body and kissed her soft lips. He craved her. He craved making love to her and seeing her face contort as he brought her to the edge of the world and slowly let her fall.

It was her he was thinking of when he boarded the plane to take him back to Chicago. In mere hours, he'd be back to her, and he hoped she wouldn't be too upset that he had left without a word. Riley hadn't given him much of a choice. But now Jane had several things in his court. He was the one control, now. Riley Dallon had no more cards to play.

Or so he thought.

* * *

She had been staring at that envelope for a long time. Calling in to work sick, she sat at the kitchen table and just stared at it. She didn't open it. The name of the court was on the front, and she was pretty sure whatever Riley pulled from his jacket was of no benefit to her. Finally, after stroking the side of it, she pulled it toward her and let her shaking fingers unclasp the two metal pins, releasing the envelope flap.

She pulled out the five sheets of paper from within and began to read. With each passing page, she lost more and more of her will to remain composed. Fat teardrops fell onto the ink and smudged it; the ink telling her that Riley was seeking full custody of Aiden and wanted to move with him all the way to the East Coast.

Teresa Lisbon snapped; something in her broke down. She stood up and pushed the papers onto the floor, sending them flying under the table, and then came around to push the kitchen chairs down, lifting one of them and throwing it into the living room, where it hit Aiden's foldable crib and broke it. She took herself over to the sink where a few dirty glasses and cereal bowls were sitting waiting to be cleaned, and picked them up, smashing them to pieces on the apartment's kitchen floor and counter.

"You can't have my son!" she cried, smashing another bowl and pushing the glass aside with her shoe, spilling the open box of cereal that was beside the dishes on the counter. "I won't let you _do_ this!"

She kicked a kitchen chair out of her way and slammed her fist down in anger on the counter and pulled back her hand in pain as she cut herself on some of the broken pieces strewn all over the place.

"I won't let you take him from me!" she cried, nearly unable to see anything through the thick tears obstructing her vision. "He's _mine_!"

She pushed Aiden's highchair down, breaking it as it hit the hard floor. She took the pictures of Riley she had hanging on the fridge door and ripped them up angrily, tossing them to the floor with the rest of the mess. She emptied the shelf in front of her of its canned goods, sending them flying all over the kitchen.

"Please don't take my son away from me!" she cried to her empty apartment. "Please. Please. Please." She took a deep breath, trying to contain herself. She collapsed amongst the glass and papers on the kitchen floor and brought her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees. She didn't know how long she had sat like that, but it must have been hours. When her door opened, and Jane appeared, she didn't move.

"Teresa!" he called out, coming across the kitchen to her. "What happened? Are you alright?"

He noticed the blood on her hand. He reached out to have a look. It was a long gash near her pinky. He reached down and took her by the arms, lifting her up. When she was finally standing, he put an arm under her knees and carried her to the living room couch, careful to avoid the broken kitchen chair and crib.

"What is going on, Teresa?" he asked her quietly, his fingers gently stroking her cheek. "Tell me."

"I have to be with Riley," she told Jane, looking up at him without really seeing him. "It's the only way."

"What happened, Teresa?" Jane commanded in a harsh voice. She wasn't making sense.

"He wants to take my son from me and move," she said quietly in monotone. "I can't let him. I have to reconcile with him. That's the only way."

'Shh," he told her.

He stood with her in his arms and turned to place her on the couch. He left her and ran up to the bathroom. In the medicine cabinet, he saw Clonazepam and some bandages. He reached for the bottle, dumped two of the small, green, round pills into his palm, closed the medicine cabinet, and headed back downstairs. He glanced over at her, but she hadn't moved. He crunched over the glass shards everywhere and reached for a cup in the cupboard. Filling the glass with cold water, he walked back through the wrecked downstairs and knelt to put the two pills in her mouth.

"Take these, Teresa. They'll calm you down," he told her.

She opened her mouth and took the pills and accepted the water. He lifted himself and turned toward the kitchen. He reached down and picked up one of the papers that were lying face down. Quickly reading it, he sighed.

"Shit."

He looked back at Lisbon, but she was out like a light. He went to bandage her wound and think.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with this and your feedback. It is coming to an end in 4 chapters. It's pre-written, so it won't be long now. I have a new story called In Stitches, that is my final Mentalist fanfic I will write. I want to focus on my current show, Riverdale. But I hope you will give that a chance, too. Thank you so much!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Spaces Between**

* * *

She slept for a long time, it appeared. She still felt exhausted, but her body seemed to sit up on the couch all of its own volition. The first thing she was aware of, was that everything she had broken or damaged had been cleaned up and replaced back where they had come from. The kitchen, as her eyes fell across it, was clear of glass and cereal along the floor, and the table's chairs were back to the table. Aiden's crib was repaired, the plastic pole glued together and sat to the side of the living room. The papers she shoved on the floor had been picked up and positioned in a neat pile on the coffee table in front of her. She was also aware of a cup of tea sitting next to them.

"You're awake," she heard from beside her. "Feel better?"

She looked over and saw Jane leaning against the door frame, observing her. She watched as he came to sit beside her on the sofa. Without provocation, he reached over and took her in his arms as she wept. He waited for her to stop crying before his hands stroking her back stopped and she turned her face upward to him.

"I do now," she told him. "But it doesn't change anything. He'll never stop, Jane. He just will never stop."

Jane sighed and nodded his head. "I know." And he did. "But this doesn't mean anything, Teresa. I am forging on a plan, but it is very slow in its progression. The hearing is in a week, according to the papers. I don't know if that will be enough time."

"You...you can't change anything about it, Jane," she told him, inclining away from him and taking her hands from his shirt. "There is only one way to keep my son here, and see him every day."

Jane looked at her and his expression fell. He was a very smart, articulate man. He recognized what was going on in her mind. He also recognized that he had come too far to let this happen to him. To them. He simply could not permit her to say the words that he knew she was about to articulate from her beautiful mouth. He felt his heart hammering roughly in his chest, the words unable to be to stop the battering that was occurring even as she rose from the couch and paced in front of him.

"Please don't say whatever it is you are about to say," he told her, drawing up and walking over to her, reaching out a shaking hand to grasp her elbow. "Don't do something you will regret, Teresa."

She removed her elbow from his grip and shook her head. "You don't get it, Jane. This isn't about me or you or Riley, even. This is my son we're talking about. I would do anything for him and to keep him. Even if that means I pretend not to love you and make believe to love Riley. If that is what it takes to keep my son with me, then I will do that."

He laughed without amusement in his tone. "That's not the way to manage it, Teresa. To make yourself so unhappy. To make Aiden grow up with a father that doesn't even want him! Teresa, you know as well as I do that this is not what should be occurring! You know I can take you out of this!" He was clinging to anything he could. "You don't need him to prove you are a respectable mother! I've watched you with your son, goddamn it! I've met him only a few days ago, and I already know how much you love that kid!"

"So you know why I have to do it," she replied, sticking her hands in her pockets, unable to match his gaze. "Why I have to let you go?"

"Let me go?" He laughed humorously. "Go where? I don't want to go wherever you aren't! Don't you understand? This is his aim! It's what he wants!" he shouted.

"I know."

"So why are you _doing_ it?" he demanded to know. "Aiden won't benefit in the long run for this, so I have to ask if you actually are thinking about your child, Teresa. How could you place him in a situation where when he starts to understand just how much his father resents him, it will be too late? You will already be together and no doubt you will be no different!" He took a breath. "This isn't the Teresa Lisbon I left. I came back and you changed. You permit a man to dictate your life! Your son's life! OUR FUTURE! And for what? Because he threatens some bullshit court crap?" Jane shook his head angrily at her. "You are not the Teresa Lisbon I fell in love with all those years ago. She'd never lie down and accept this."

"She didn't have a child to think of, Jane," she told him. She gritted her teeth in frustration. "I don't appreciate the insinuation that I am allowing Aiden to be subjected to things in my selfish need to be in control," she averred.

"Well? Aren't you?"

"Get out of my house," she ordered him, angrily stomping over to the apartment door and yanking it open. "Get OUT!" she reiterated, pointing to the outside. "I think we are finished here. I can't be with you anymore. I simply can't. I won't risk my son for anyone."

Jane walked slowly over to her and nodded his head. "Okay." He passed over the threshold and turned back toward her. "If you wake up and smell the goddamn coffee, Teresa, and realize that this is all his plans and your son is the pawn in it all, call me."

Teresa slammed the door in his face and tipped over to open two slats in the blinds to watch him walk down the stairs and out of sight. She did not cry, however. Her tears were all shed. Instead, she walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed Riley's office number. She sat down and waited for him to be put through as her eyes fell back over the papers on the coffee table.

* * *

Two hours later, the bar was noisily hopping as Jane sat back and downed another beer. Rigsby and Cho looked at him curiously, but they didn't press him. He set the bottle down on the table and sighed. He leaned forward and played with the label as he turned his head toward his two colleagues. He nearly laughed at their probing looks at him.

"She kicked me out," he told them, sighing with quiet reserve. "The courts served her papers today. He wants to petition the court to move to Virginia. He's trying to get into Quantico."

"Isn't that a good thing for you?" Cho asked. "He leaves. Why is she kicking you out?"

He scoffed. "He wants full custody of Aiden," he explained. "And he wants to move him to Virginia with him."

"Oh." Cho looked at Rigsby and lifted his eyebrows. "She wants to be with Riley because then he'd leave the kid. Clever bastard."

"Nobody is as clever as I am," he told them, slurring his words a little. "Did Van Pelt find anything out?"

He looked almost hopeful as Rigsby nodded his head at him. "Yeah. When Dallon first came to the unit, like four months in, he was on a case involving some drug runners. When Lisbon rolled up on the scene, Dallon had beat this guy pretty bad. He filed a complaint with the Internal Affairs, but Lisbon used her muscle to get it expunged from his file. With that, the guy's name was erased from it. It's all Grace could find."

"This helps me how?" Jane asked.

"Lisbon is the one person who knows who he is. If she were to go to Internal Affairs and give her version of what happened, he would be brought up about that," Cho explained, picking up Rigsby's thoughts. "With the FBI-"

"You have to have a squeaky clean record and family life," Jane finished. "Yes. This is why he is so desperate to get back with her! He wants to move them all to Virginia once he is accepted. He has to prove his family life is stable."

"How do you know that?" Rigsby asked.

"I flew to see her brother. I thought maybe they could tell me more about this Riley. Stan told me that he once told him about getting into the FBI."

"Lovely. But now she has kicked you out. What are you going to do?" Cho asked.

He sighed. "I need Lisbon's help with my plan, but she's not exactly in the mood to listen to me."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! I just told her that she's needlessly putting Aiden in a situation that isn't the best for him," he told them, taking another gulp of his beer. "I may have hinted that she's making a mistake by caving into Riley and being selfish about it."

"Oh, no," Rigsby said with a sigh. "You really messed up, didn't you?"

Jane set his beer back down and nodded. "Yes. Seems so."

"So, basically, she's going to be back with Riley in order to stop him from taking him to Virginia and away from her?" Cho recapped. "And she knows she won't win the case, how?"

"She hinted to me that the judge knows Riley. But without proof of that, there isn't much to work on that angle. Do you think Grace could look into that, Wayne?" he asked, hope in his voice.

Rigsby shrugged and took a sip of his own beer. "I can ask."

"Thanks."

"Sure thing. The next round is on you," he told him, lifting his hand to get the barkeep's attention. "He's paying. Three, please."

* * *

The soft knock on the door lifted her from the kitchen chair a little after eight. She opened it and immediately lifted her lips into a smile, reaching out for her son, who was reaching for her as soon as he locked eyes with her.

"Hi, baby!" she greeted him, kissing his face. She walked away from the door and heard Riley enter, closing the door behind him.

"I brought over his overnight bag," he said. "I didn't know if we'd be staying," he added, sitting the bag at his feet. "I am glad you called so we could discuss this like normal parents."

 _Normal parents don't try to steal their kid away from the other_ , she thought but did not voice. She bounced her son on her hip as she turned to her husband. She wanted to slap him again for his stunts, but she knew that would not be beneficial to her or Aiden.

"After we get him down, we can talk about it," she confirmed. "I really think we need to let out or feelings. It'll be good for us."

He smiled and nodded. "Where's Patrick? Off smelling bodies?" He looked around the room for any signs that he was there.

"He's gone," she told him. "It's just us and Aiden."

He smiled even wider. "Good. Just our little family."

She smiled an uneven smile and tapped her son on the back as he yawned against her. Yes. Just their little family. It was all suddenly peachy and life would go back to the way it was. She knew what Jane had said about Riley was true. He never wanted Aiden. It interfered with his career and life. She knew the only reason he was wanting to get back with her was because Jane stepped in, and jealousy had reared its ugly head.

"You fed him?" she asked, turning around and kissing Aiden on the top of his head.

"What do I look like, Teresa? I work! The nanny fed him," he told her before pulling himself together and smiling at her. "Sorry. Long day. Yes, Teresa. He ate."

"I wanted to know so I could put him down to sleep and we could talk," said Lisbon, keeping the shame out of her voice. "It's been a long time for that, Ri."

He nodded his head, following her as she turned from him and climbed the stairs to Aiden's nursery. He watched her as she placed him on the changing table and pulled off his little shoes and pants, leaving his shirt on to sleep in. The nanny had changed him right before Riley had brought him over, as he smelled freshly powdered.

"You really want to take Aiden with you to Virginia?" she asked him, laying their son in his crib and covering him as he yawned and drifted off. "Take him from me?"

He followed her out of Aiden's room and into her own, closing the door behind them. "I don't want to, Teresa," he assured her. "You're making me do it! You are shacking up with a criminal! I don't want that around my son!"

Lisbon laughed mirthlessly at him. "You had no problem telling the courts I was a criminal to get Aiden, Riley. Aren't you afraid I will be a bad influence on our son? Maybe teach him how to aid and abate a criminal?" She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

"Don't bring up the past, Teresa!" he told her loudly. "You were in no shape to care for him! You know that."

"Here is what I _do_ know, Riley," she responded, turning to face him again. "I know that you don't like the idea of me being happy with someone else. You don't like that I am...was… in a relationship with a man that you know you can't compete with." She shook her head at him and scoffed. "Someone who could be a better husband and father than you could. You hate the idea of me being happy with someone who isn't you, and it kills you. So what do you do?" She lifted her hand in the air, waving it in a shrugging gesture. "You use my son against me. You know my weak spot! Well, bravo, Riley. Bravo."

He exhaled a sharp, quick breath and stared at her for a long moment. Finally, he closed the gap between them and pulled her roughly against him, placing his hands in her hair gently. He smiled down at her and cleared his throat.

"Is that how you feel about me, Teresa?" he asked her. "What happened to the fun times? Remember when we were dating? We had some classic times. I remember you being happy with me. Sure, you were thinking of Patrick Jane the entire time, but I saw things in you that I know were just meant for me. And we made a child together. He can't give you that, Teresa. He kills his kids, not make them." He stifled her protest to that statement with a kiss to her lips. It was gentle, but demanding.

She wanted to fight against him, but her thoughts went to the child across the hall. She allowed herself to melt into the kiss, bringing her hands up to his cotton shirt and twisting the material. It wasn't in desire, it was so she wouldn't have the urge to punch him in the face. Her knees branched apart so that she wouldn't be tempted to knee him in the balls, too.

"There you go," he said against her lips. "I knew you still wanted me." He brought his hands down from her hair to her sides, pressing kisses to her mouth and chin and he walked her backward until the back of her knees hit the bed.

Lisbon felt herself falling onto the mattress behind her, his lips smashing into hers. She felt him crawl over her as she fell flat. He pulled off his cotton shirt and threw it to the floor before his hands came to the hem of her shirt and tugged, pulling it up. Lisbon didn't help him, she just allowed him to kiss her, taking his hair in her hands as his fingers found her button and zipper to her jeans. It was then that Lisbon thought back to Jane's fingers touching her. Suddenly, it wasn't Riley anymore touching her. It was Jane. Everything Riley was doing, she replaced him with Jane in her mind.

"I love you, Teresa," he whispered. All she heard was Jane's voice in her mind.

"I know," she whispered back, lifting her hands to reach for his pants. "Make love to me?" As her fingers undid his pants, all she could think of was Jane and the boy across the hall. He wasn't Riley. He was Jane to her. "Please?"

"You don't need to ask me twice," he told her against her neck, his hand sliding into her pants, feeling the satin of her panties under his fingers. "It's been a long time, Teresa."

"Yes, it has," she agreed, feeling him teasing her. "Too long."

She closed her eyes briefly, but when she reopened them, he was no longer Jane, but back to being Riley. She gasped and pulled his hand from her pants and pushed him off her, sitting up and placing a hand on her head.

"No," she told him. "I can't. I can't do this, Riley. I don't—I don't— Please."

"GODDAMN IT, TERESA!" he yelled, getting up and redoing his button and zipper and putting his hands on his hips.

"I just want to talk, Riley," she told him, redoing up her pants and pushing her shirt down. "I don't know what came over me. I really just want to talk, okay?"

"Fine!" he said, plopping down beside her on the bed. "Let's talk, Teresa. Let's discuss why you have a problem with me protecting our son from this guy. Convince me."

"I don't want to convince you, Riley."

"Good. Because the choice is this, Teresa. You can either come with us to Virginia, or you can stay here with your lover. No other option."

"What?" she asked, shock flooding her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you can either come with me to Virginia, take a job there and be with me and your son, or I take him there and you stay here with Patrick Jane. One involves the court, one involves you. That's the choice." With that, he stood and walked to the door, opening it and exiting, leaving her sat stunned on the bed.

* * *

Jane pressed the key into his palm so hard that the pain was numbing his hand. He was sitting in his car in front of Lisbon's apartment. He had come to retrieve his belongings and hopefully talk to her about everything and the plan brewing in his brain. He had left himself in with the key she had given him, and he headed upstairs.

Overhearing Lisbon and her husband about to have sex and to hear Lisbon so willing to do so with the man who set to devalue her as a mother and use her child as a pawn stabbed him in his heart. Perhaps she thought she was doing the right thing by her son, but she wasn't. All she was doing was setting that kid up for a life of disappointment with that creep she married.

He started the car, throwing her apartment key on the passenger side seat and pulling out of her apartment lot. He was glad that, before he left, he glanced in on Aiden, rubbing the smile child's head before leaving just as heavy sounds of kissing came from her bedroom. The bedroom in which they shared just a few days ago.

He headed toward a motel just a few blocks from her apartment, alone and outcast, wondering what he was going to do next. Because Patrick Jane wasn't going down without a fight. He wasn't about to give up the woman he loved and the child he would love as his own.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks so much for the love last chapter. Appreciate it!  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Hyperbole**

* * *

It was barely daylight when Patrick Jane rolled up in front of the brick building, his objective clear and his resolve steady. He parked his car and hopped out across the parking lot, his quick strides getting him inside the cool, air-conditioned lobby in a matter of a moment. His keen eyes scanned the plaque on the wall, looking for one name.

Reaching into his pocket, he drew out the carefully folded piece of paper, checking the name on the floor associated with it. He pushed the elevator button up and waited as the lift came down and let off a few people. He entered the elevator and brought it up to the fourth floor, moving through a set of double doors. He stopped short when he saw a black-haired woman sitting at a desk just inside the expansive office, discarding a muffin wrapper into the trash can and wiping her hands free of crumbs.

"Hello, sir," she greeted him. "Do you have an appointment with Judge Hilton?"

Jane put on his best, most dazzling smile and looked down at her nameplate sitting on her desk and then back up to meet her curious gaze. He leaned a little along the desk and shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Stephanie," he told her. "Judge Hilton is officiating over a case that my employer is very interested in. I don't believe that we are required to have an appointment, Steph." He rubbed his chin with his hand and shrugged. "I'm with the CBI, ma'am. My boss is Wayne Rigsby if you'd like to check."

She paused, licking crumbs off her lips and sizing up Jane, trying to decide if to believe him or not. Eventually, she sighed. She motioned for him to stay where he was as she rose headed back between another set of double doors to her left. While she went back to alert Judge Hilton to his presence, he looked around the small Family Court office. This was the place where Lisbon's son was snatched from her by a greedy, delusional and egotistical husband. This would be where she would get her son back, and Riley would either go off to Quantico, or he'd be a participatory parent. Either way, Jane was going to ensure that his primary custody of his son was rightfully returned to his mother.

He can't say that what he heard from her room last night was anything he wanted to, but he had faith in Teresa. He had faith that whatever was occurring between them was because she thought it best. He didn't like it, but all his faith was in that woman, and it was an unshakeable trust. Riley was a very charming man. Most sociopaths are. He did not and could not fault Lisbon for her wholehearted attempt to attain control of what happens to her son. Jane, however, knew a manipulative bastard when he saw one. Hell, he was one, himself. And he would be god damned go to hell if he was going to allow Riley to hurt her or that precious baby like he had hurt that woman for years with his lies and manipulation and the pain he had caused her.

Even if Lisbon didn't want to be with him any longer, even if she didn't permit him to be a part of her or her son's life, he would be there in the shadows making sure they were protected and safe. Always. His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of high heels coming back to him on the other side of the double doors. Finally, Stephanie re-emerged. She came back around and sat at her desk and looked up at him.

"You can go on back," she told him. "First door on the right. He's at a meeting, but given your...type of work," she said, grasping for words. "he's cutting it short and will be with you shortly."

"Thanks so much, Stephanie," Jane said, smiling engagingly at her. "You've been a real peach."

She frowned at him, but said nothing, merely watching him turn and walk through the doors she had just come from. He smiled at her reaction as he veered to the right and opened the door to Judge Hilton's office. Clearly, she had gotten chewed out vigorously for interrupting her boss's meeting. He stepped inside the brightly lit office, closing the door softly behind him as he admitted to looking around right away at the diplomas and degrees in frames on the walls.

Jane had to wonder, from all the achievements and accolades, why Judge Hilton would decide to help someone he has a conflict of interest with. Van Pelt had called him this morning and informed him that the Judge and Riley's parents were old acquaintances. That, as Grace had told him (and he already knew), was a violation of the code of ethics for a court functionary. They had to show complete neutralism. Kind of difficult to do when you are friends with the man's parents.

Jane heard the door click behind him. He turned and was face-to-face with Judge Samuel Hilton. The older man was garbed in an expensive suit, and his face suggested he was less than thrilled to have a member of the CBI in his office. He didn't bother to greet Jane, instead opting to bypass him and sit in his chair at his desk. At long last, after a long, exasperated look, he gestured to the seat across from him.

"Have a seat," he said to Jane. "I don't know what the CBI office is doing in a family court case," he said, sitting back and putting his fingertips together in front of him. "There have been no complaints."

Jane nodded his head and the smile was gone from his face; it was replaced by a scowl and an instant dislike for this Judge. He could sense an extravagant amount of favoritism and bribery in just this small dialogue they shared.

"I'm not here to tell you about any complaints, Judge," Jane told him deadpan.

Hilton leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk and smiled at him. "Oh? And then what is a CBI Agent doing here? Let me guess," he said, holding up his index finger. "You are a friend of Riley's."

"I wouldn't say that," he told the judge. "But I do have some vested interest in his case."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Jane told him. "Before I leave this office here today, you are going to promise me to grant his wife custody of her son." Jane smiled without amusement behind it. "Like you should have, to begin with."

"Are you threatening me, Agent?" the Judge asked, taken aback by this.

Jane's smile now held the amusement a smile should. "Yes, Judge. I do believe I am."

"With what?" He laughed and dropped his finger. "I've done nothing wrong."

"Playing stupid," said Jane, bobbing his head at the corrupt Judge. "Smart. But you see, Samuel," he said, glancing down at the Judge's nameplate, "I'm very astute. You think I haven't done my homework? Did you think I came here without some facts? You do know a Melinda and Scott Dallon, don't you? He's a good DA up in Maine, I hear. He also claims to be a respectable friend of yours."

The laugh ceased immediately. Hilton cleared his throat and sat back in his seat, eyeing up the blond man sitting across from him making him uneasy. He sighed and shook his head.

"That doesn't mean I favor their son in a case that crosses my court," he told him. "He presented me the facts and I rendered my decision on his wife based on that. She's batshit insane from what I hear of it."

Jane rose so fast that Hilton stood up abruptly, too. Jane leaned across the desk and tilted his head at the Judge. He knew he had to watch himself in this situation, so he blinked rapidly at him for a few seconds and then straightened himself once again, choosing not to punch the federal court Judge.

"Don't you speak like that about her like that again," he gritted between his teeth. "Show some respect. The bottom line is that you have distinctly had a conflict of interest, in this case, Samuel. You have taken Riley's words as fact." He bore up his hand to stop the Judge from his protests. "Everything he has told you is fabricated."

"She possesses a criminal record," the Judge shot back. "Very serious crimes if I memory serves me."

"It doesn't," Jane stated.

"Excuse me?"

"It doesn't serve you," he told him. "That criminal record does not matter if, in the instance, she can prove that she has the best interest of her child in mind. Is her son fed and clothed? Yes. Is her son watched? Yes. Is her son getting emotional and physical sustenance from her? Yes. A warm place to live? Check. Riley hired a nanny to watch the kid, even during the evenings. She feeds and clothes him, and I have seen him belittle his mother in front of my very own eyes. Her criminal record had nothing to do with how well she can take care of her child!" Jane was livid and was not finished in his rant. "Her screaming at night? Cured. Yeah, that's right. Sister Lisbon has been _healed_! And the fact she turned down therapy, which I assume is what you are going to bullshit me with next, bears little relevance to how good she can care for her son."

The Judge shook his head at Jane. "There's nothing I can do. I already rendered my decision. And I won't be changing it just because some crackpot from the CBI comes in here and tells me to! I've done nothing wrong!"

Jane reached into his pocket and pulled the folded paper he used earlier and held it up. "There is a hearing coming up, Sam. Very soon."

"I'm not changing my decision! The facts remain the same."

Jane sighed, folded the paper back up and tucked it into his pocket. "That's real sad to hear. I suppose I might have to have a talk to the Attorney General about your practices, and how friendly you are with the Dallon family. Perhaps call the local news..." He started to walk away from the Judge's desk, pulling out his cell phone.

"Wait! Wait!" he called after Jane. "Damn it. Damn it! DAMN IT!" He slammed a fat fist down on his desk. "Alright. Look, just… just don't do that."

Jane smiled, placed the phone back in his waistcoat pocket, and turned around to face the red-faced Judge.

"Ah," Jane stated. "Now we are getting somewhere."

* * *

She heard him come into her room early in the morning, her eyes falling to the clock on the bedside table with her back facing away from him. She felt him raise the cover and curl himself against her, lifting himself on an elbow, he leaned over to see if she was awake.

"Teresa?" he asked, slipping a hand around her warm body under the covers. "You awake?"

She sighed and turned her head slightly to her husband. "I am now. Did you hear me screaming last night?"

"Yeah. I did. Look, I thought we could talk," said Riley. "I have to go to work in an hour, but I thought we could straighten some things out."

She turned herself flat on her back and put a hand to her brow. "I genuinely don't think we have anything left to discuss. You got mad at me because I didn't want to have sex with you, so now you made this stupid ultimatum that I really have no choice in."

"You have a choice, Teresa. Be with me, or be with Patrick Jane, but forfeit your son. I've been accepted to the FBI, Teresa," he told her. "Virginia. I want my son and wife there with me. A stable, healthy family."

"Is this what this is about?" She sat up and looked at him. "Is this why you are causing this? Because you know I will pick my son over anything else. You are using this to show the FBI you are a dependable provider and father and husband, aren't you? This is all a goddamn front!" She rolled away from him and swung her feet over the side of the bed. "You are something else. Why did I even agree to date you? Whatever possessed me? Oh right, yeah. I was lonely."

Riley sighed and touched a hand to her back, which she threw off with a twist of her body. She stood and paced at the foot of the bed. He observed her for a minute before getting up and standing in her way.

"Either way, Teresa, I will bring him with me. You know Judge Hilton will rule in my favor. You haven't changed anything since last time," he told her. "Please just make this easy on yourself so you can be a part of his life."

"You are a real piece of work." She shook her head angrily at him.

"Why don't you just let things go the way I need them to go," he told her. "You are struggling too much. You want to see Aiden, all you have to do is what I say. That's all, Teresa."

"Go fuck yourself, Riley," she told him spitefully. "I am going down tomorrow and file for divorce. I don't want to be bound to you anymore!" She walked over to the small jewelry box and pulled open a small drawer, pulling out the ring he had bought for her and slung it at him, hitting him the chest with it. It fell to the carpet with a muted thud. "The only thing I want between us is Aiden. And when he is old enough to see you for what you truly are, I hope he disinherits you!"

"That's very rude, Teresa," he told her. He took a few steps toward her and reached out his hands to pull her to him. She tried to oppose him, but he was strong. His hand came up to hold her chin firmly in his hand so she couldn't turn from him. He turned his lips down to hers and kissed her, feeling her fight against him. He turned her roughly and set his fingers so tight on her waist that she felt pain shoot around her back.

"Get off!" Lisbon said, trying to use one of the tactics they taught her at the academy. He dodged her kicks and her arms pushing out at him. "GET OFF!"

Before Riley could get any answer out, the bedroom door banged open, sending Lisbon jumping back and Riley rooted to the spot. Jane walked into the room and right up to Riley.

"I think she said to get off her," Jane said, his face inches from Riley's. "She doesn't want you touching her. That's what get off means."

Riley just laughed. "Is that so? Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do with my own wife?"

Jane smiled a fierce grin. "I am your worst nightmare, pal," he told Riley. "You might come in here and push around an innocent woman and baby, but you won't push me around," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not scared of you. You know what your trouble is, Riley? You are feeling rather small," he gestured a small gap with his thumb and index finger, "and inadequate compared to me. You think I am intimidated by you because you work for the Sac PD and you have a Judge in your back pocket. Only you are sadly mistaken, Riley. You really don't want to mess with me. You just don't want to do that."

"What are you going to do? Kill her and my son like you did your wife and daughter?"

"Here is the difference between me and you," Jane said, his face still inches from Riley's. "I can acknowledge my mistakes and past transgressions. I can admit my wrongdoings. You...you take your mistakes and you cast them on your own wife and your own son. And you hate that your own wife resents you and doesn't want you around her son. But, leaving that alone for a second, if you ever put your hands on her like that again, you are going to find out just how much my criminal record is not overstated. You so much as touch her without her permission, I promise you, Riley, that the last thing you will be worrying about is whether she is sleeping with me."

"You-"

"And she _is_ , Riley," he told him, scoffing as he nodded his blond curls. "We are sleeping together. You accused her of it and me, but I never confirmed it. But I am now. I am sleeping with her because I love her and she wants me to. I don't have to push myself on her."

Riley looked over at Lisbon and back to Jane. He could distinguish the fact he confirmed it struck him hard. He tried to conceal how much that bothered him by laughing.

"You want a replacement for the wife and daughter you murdered by proxy," he countered. "Nothing more. Simply filling the hole you created in your life with my wife and son."

"Not a replacement," he stated, shaking his head. "They've never been that to me. I _love_ that woman," he pointed to Lisbon, "and that little baby across the hall. You just use both as pawns. Your own wife and son. You miserable bastard."

"You always had her, didn't you?" Riley told him quietly. "Your claws in her? Digging at her for those two years? The two years you left her? Ah, yes. You appear to have forgotten that part. Up and leaving her. You did it once, you'll do it again."

"Leave," Jane told him slowly. "While you were attempting to assault his mother, I checked on Aiden. He's still out like a light. Leave the baby sleeping. The nanny can get him later."

"I have primary-"

"I don't _give_ a damn," Jane told him menacingly. "Leave. The. Baby."

Riley looked at Teresa and shook his head at her. "This isn't done. We still aren't finished. She'll be around for the baby in the afternoon. See you in court, Teresa."

With that, he walked away from Jane and exited the room. They could hear him down in the apartment. Finally, after a few minutes, the door slammed shut and there was silence. Jane turned to Lisbon.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"I'm all right," she assured him. "You shouldn't have done that, Jane."

"What? Let him hurt you? He was forcing himself on you, for hell's sake, Teresa!" He closed his eyes and opened them after a brief period.

"Why do I sense a reason behind you coming back here when I ordered you to leave?" she asked, smoothing down her nightshirt.

He smiled broadly. "I do come bearing good news," he told her. "But, I want to make sure you are all right, Teresa."

"I said I am fine," she restated.

He reached out and took her hand gently, bringing her to him. His hand slipped up to her hair and he kissed her on the tip of her nose. He felt her relax against him and encircle her arms around his waist, turning her head into his chest.

"I told him I wanted a final divorce," she told him, her words muffled against his shirt. "But he will take my son from me, Jane. How can we be together if the lone way to have my son is to do what he wants?"

"That is why I am here," he told her. "But I will tell you later. How soon to you have to be at work?" he inquired.

"An hour and a half," she told him. "Why?"

He smiled at her and took her by the hand, leading her toward the seam. He looked back when Lisbon stopped abruptly, her lip trapped in her teeth. He gazed at her and frowned.

"What is it?"

"Is the marriage proposal still on the table?" she inquired, smiling at him.

He shook his head ruefully. "No," he told her. "It isn't."

Lisbon frowned in confusion and pulled her hand away from his. "Why?"

"Because I won't have you accepting something out of spite and anger," he explained. "I want you to say yes because you are ready and you love me as much as I love you."

"I do," she answered.

"I don't doubt that love," he stated, bringing his hands up to caress her cheek with the pads of his fingers. "Only I want you to think about it, okay? When you are ready, I will be here, Teresa. For you and Aiden."

He reached back down for her hand and once again started leading her to the bed. She willingly followed him this time, discarding her nightshirt before climbing into bed, waiting for Jane to shed his own clothing and join her.

"Am I forgiven?" he whispered.

"I shouldn't forgive you for what you said, earlier," she told him. "But, I was holding out for a hero," she whispered back as he slid into the sheets with her. "You are forgiven for that rescue earlier."

"Good."

And he kissed her passionately.

* * *

Riley slowed down at a red light about a block from her apartment, his breath quickening in sharp, strong puffs. His temper was rising. He suspected she was sleeping with him, but his confirmation and her lack of denial ate at him. She was still his wife! His little display of dominance wouldn't last. Not if he had any say in the subject.

He didn't quite know what exactly what Patrick Jane was planning, but he wasn't a stupid detective. He knew something was coming. No matter, though. He held a lot of ammo to use on both his wife and her lover. Did he want a war? Well, he was embarking on one. And if he planned on removing his son from him, he had another thing coming to him.

There was nothing to stop him from taking his son. Nothing. Nobody and nothing were going to stand in the path of his child and his dream of being in the FBI.

Not even Patrick Jane.

He pulled out his phone and dialed. He waited for the person on the other end to answer, and when they did, he smiled.

"I have a favor to ask of you," he told them, going through the intersection as the light turned green. "I need it done as shortly as possible if you can." He waited. "Great."

And he smiled even broader.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thanks for the feedback. Only 2 more chapters (I believe) to go. Hope you enjoy! There is a little M action in this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Plans**

* * *

His lips gently kissed the small swell of her belly, her fingers in his blond hair as he raised himself to plant a kiss just between the swell of her breasts. Eliciting a groan, he smiled against her skin and slid his lips over to the soft mound, opening his mouth to capture her nipple, nipping ever so slightly with his teeth. He felt her heave underneath him, her body craving the touch of him that had sorely been missing for longer than either could really stand.

"Does that tickle?" he asked her, turning his eyes up to her. "Sorry," he lied.

"Smart-ass," she whispered, laughing as his head raised back up to plant a kiss on her soft lips. "When are you going to tell me this plan of yours?"

He smiled against her mouth and felt his way down the sides of her body with his big hands, curving her leg up over his naked hip when he got to the dimpled flesh there. He leaned his head to kiss her neck, trailing them down her throat and over to her earlobe, nipping with his teeth.

"You have a choice, Teresa," he told her, kissing her neck between words. "You can either let me finish what we have started here, or I can roll over and let you in on my plan. Which is it?" As if to nail his choice down, his hand slid from her hip to her ass, pressing her harder into his hardness, grinding himself into her warmth.

"Your two choices aren't fair," she told him, her hands gliding from his hair, following the path down to his spine and resting on his ass. "Can't we do both at the same time?"

He laughed loudly and lowered his head to rest on her shoulder. "Always a multitasker, Teresa." He lifted his head and kissed the tip of her nose. "If you promise me we can continue this later, I will tell you the plan."

"What?! No!" she cried out. "The plan can wait..."

"You sure?" he asked with a grin. "I can always stop..."

"Don't you _dare_!" she said, pinching his ass with her fingers. "You can't offer to give and take it away!"

He laughed at that. "The chances of the baby waking up are fairly good, Teresa," he told her, his hand laying dizzy circles across her butt. "Or you being called into work early..."

"Mm," she hummed as she raised her head to capture his lips. "So let's keep this fire burning, huh?"

"I do need to tell you something," he whispered. "Before we conclude our little quickie, here." He pulled back his head and looked at her, his fingers still idly creating patterns on her flesh. "I went to see Judge Hilton very early this morning."

She was silent a moment, trying to process what he was saying. She tilted her head at him and shook it slightly. Her hand stilled on his backside and laughed a small, dry laugh.

"You did _what_?" she asked.

"Uh," he replied. "I made a little visit to the Judge, Teresa. Now," he said, throwing up a hand to stop any protests she was about to make, "I think you should know that Riley has had an agenda the entire time. One I think you should know about."

"You are telling me this now? Before..." she trailed off, taking her hands to push on his shoulders, rolling him off her. She sat up and sighed. "Didn't I tell you not to get involved? This is my son we are talking about here, Jane."

"I know! And I know you are going to be pissed off with me, but I wouldn't change what I did. The judge, as you already assumed, is in his back pocket. He's friends with his parents! I just went there to talk to him about that fact."

"You had Grace investigate him, didn't you?" Lisbon shook her head hard. "This is the kind of thing you did before, Jane. Sneak behind my back!"

"But I got the Judge to agree to throw out your old case files, Teresa. None of what happened is allowed to be used against you, anyway. You are a detective! Didn't you look up the laws? Know about them?"

She sighed and slumped back, blowing out a breath. "Of course, I knew about them, Jane. But Riley made it seem like I couldn't take care of Aiden. Like I wasn't fit to care for my own son." She waved a dismissing hand in the air. "You wouldn't understand."

"But you didn't even _try_ , Teresa!" He hadn't come here to argue, and their nakedness had only added to that fact. "You didn't even fight from what you have told me."

"I had no choice! Let's say I would have brought up those facts to Hilton. Do you think, as far up Riley's ass as he is, he would have cared? And what proof did I have back then of him even being in his pocket? None."

Jane smiled at her. "But that's just it, Lisbon! You have proof now! And I may have mentioned that I would call the news agencies about this little fact if he didn't see your case with fresh eyes and no brown-nosing."

"Jane!"

"What? You want Aiden, right? I want him, too! And, did you know he is trying to get into the FBI? Because I had Grace—Stop looking at me like that—look into him. He needs a clear, clean record. He wants to look like a gold nugget in all of this. He wants you back, alright. So that he can use that to gain ranks in the FBI. I also went to speak with your brother Stan to ask if he knew anything about this jackass."

She laughed without humor. "You really haven't changed all that much, have you?"

"Ouch," he replied. "Look, I went all the way to Chicago just to ask. I also risked you hating me forever. I did it for you and Aiden. And you are so unhappy, Teresa," he told her reaching to tilt her chin up. "He belongs with his mother and you are that mother."

She looked at him. Finally, she smiled slightly and reached a hand up to his golden locks. "Okay. But don't do anything else, Jane. Whatever this plan of yours is, please don't do it."

"Too late," he told her. "But I promise that tonight, after work, we'll discuss it."

"Thank you for being honest with me," she told him. "I like this side of you."

"Thank you," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her. "Do you suppose-" Just then, they could hear Aiden squealing loudly from his room across the hall. "Suppose not," Jane whispered. "But I am already half there, Teresa."

"We have about five minutes before he demands to be fed," she whispered, reaching down between the sheets and grabbing hold of his semi-hardness. "I'll make it quick."

He gasped out as he felt her hand slide up his shaft, tugging gently. She just reached the base with the third pass when he shook his head and stilled her wrist.

"Teresa," he panted. "As much as I am _totally_ loving what you are doing, right now," he said, closing and reopening his eyes in the span of a few seconds, "I really can't do this knowing the baby is awake. I can finish myself in the shower, and we can do this later. Okay?" he said, pulling her hand from him. "It's a bit uncomfortable to hear the baby and think of what you are doing to me at the same time."

"Self-gratification," Lisbon snorted. "Well, Mister Jane," she told him, pulling him down to her and kissing his lips softly. "Do what you must. But we have plans tonight… barring our discussion goes well." She kissed him again and watched as he made his way out of the bed, his naked body carrying himself to the connecting bathroom. She had herself a good view of his muscled backside just before he closed the door behind him.

She got out of the bed as she heard the shower running. Dressing, she wandered over to her son's room, seeing him standing up, his eyes falling on her as she entered the room.

"Hey, baby boy," she told her son, gathering him into her arms. "Did you sleep well?"

The baby giggled, and she kissed her son on the head. "Very well, I would guess." She bounced him on her hip, smiling at him. "What do you think about the possibility of having another father?" she asked him. "Do you think mommy is doing the right thing by you? He loves you, you know."

Aiden smiled at her and wiggled to get down. She put her son on the floor, and he walked ahead of her, she followed him out into the hall, where he stopped just outside her bedroom door.

"Where are you going?" she asked her baby.

"Daddy!" the little boy exclaimed, laughing, pointing to her room across the hall.

"Did you hear Patrick in there?" she asked amused at his boisterous exclamation.

Aiden nodded his head and kept on pointing into her room.

"Well," she said finally, hugging her son close. "I guess that is a resounding yes from you."

* * *

Riley sat in the small cubicle, his hands flicking through the mountain of reports. He already had a list of things written on two sheets of a legal pad, and he was just filling up a third when his phone rang. The nanny was supposed to pick up Aiden at ten, and it was now showing half past twelve. Thinking it was her, he answered his phone.

"Yes?" he asked gruffly. His sat up straight when he heard the voice on the other end. "Yes, sir."

"Great. Thank you so much, Sam," he replied. "I appreciate the heads up on your end. Tomorrow afternoon? Sure. Thanks, Sam!"

He hung up the phone and shook his head. So, that is why that blond-haired bastard was so macho this morning. He talked to Sam. What Jane failed to remember is that any new evidence against Teresa would count. No matter what. It was also very apparent that Jane understood that any Judge would take her case a look over it very well. He didn't want that. He wanted Sam Hilton. Why? Intimidation with his threats. A new Judge would be unbiased. Sam had graciously set up a meeting to discuss any new evidence against her when it came to Aiden. Riley had his ace in the hole, already.

He flipped through Patrick Jane's CBI records and court documents. Piles of them. He'd give the Judge something good to read. Something much better than his old defense. But he had a little trick up his sleeve, too. He wasn't entirely a bad guy, now was he? No.

He smiled to himself and placed all the files back into the boxes, gathering his three pages of notes in his hands and exiting the cubicle.

"Dallon!" someone called. "Line 3!"

"Can't take it right now, Todd," he told his colleague. "I have someone to meet. Take a message."

"They said it's important."

"Who is it?" he asked, deflated by the persistence.

"Says they are calling from Quantico."

He froze. The FBI? They weren't supposed to make a decision until next week! He waved his hand and took the nearest line. On the other end was the Director of the FBI, his voice low and deep as he greeted him.

"Sir!"

What the Director had to say on the other end of the line made his blood boil. This was Patrick Jane's doing. Sticking his goddamn nose where it did not belong. Well, two could play that game.

"Yes, sir. I understand. Thank you, Sir. I'll do that."

He hung up the line and pounded a fist on the desk, making nearby workers jump.

"What's up, Ri?" his partner asked.

"My chance," he grunted. "That's what's up."

* * *

The nanny came to get baby Aiden earlier that morning, Jane dressing the child and feeding him, making sure he was all comfortable for his trip back to his nasty father. As soon as the door clicked shut, Jane pulled out his cell phone and dialed Rigsby's number. He asked Rigsby to meet him there, at her apartment, because he had a favor to ask of him.

"What's this all about, Jane?" he asked when he arrived. "I told Lisbon I had a lead to run down just to get here."

Jane smiled at him and tapped his finger with his lips. "I have a plan, Wayne. Something clever and devious. What I need from you is an impression. You know Sac PD's number by heart, right?"

"Impression?" Rigsby repeated. "What do you mean?"

"How are your Cary Grant impressions? I need you to make on that you are the Director of the FBI," Jane told him. "I want you to call Riley," he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper, "and I want you to tell him this."

"Our recruitment adviser has informed me that you and your wife are currently separated, and are in the beginning stages of a custody battle with a mutual child. It is our understand that you knew our strict policies on providing a face to our organization, and reflect that in your personal affairs. We simply cannot have someone who will reflect poorly on the FBI in our ranks. I am afraid we will have to bypass you, this time, Mr. Dallon. The rule is every four years you can apply." He read it again silently and looked up at Jane.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's bait. He thinks he has nothing to appear squeaky clean for anymore. Meanwhile, the real FBI will see all of this personal infliction and won't give him two shades of a thought. But there is a compromise, here, Wayne. Opportunity."

"What?" he narrowed his eyes. "I am so confused."

"Doesn't matter," Jane said. "Just plotting details into my plan."

"I don't follow..."

"Good. The less you know, the better," Jane told him with a smile. "Now go on! Lisbon will get suspicious if you are gone too long."

"Jane," Rigsby said seriously. "I hope this is worth everything it is probably going to cost you."

"It will be fine, Wayne," he told him, "It will."

"Okay," he said, lifting his cell phone up to make the call to Sac PD. "If you think so."

He didn't think so… He _hoped_ so.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Boiling Blood**

* * *

Jane wiped his mouth on the towel that was draped over his shoulder and turned off the heat to the sauce pot, placing a heap of cooked spaghetti on two plates and spooning the basil infused sauce over each. He pulled out the fresh garlic bread and sliced it, adding that to the plate. He took the towel off his shoulder and placed it on the counter before reaching back to take off the apron he had been wearing. It was one of those novelty KISS THE COOK ones that he found in Lisbon's kitchen drawer. After a good chuckle at its irony, he had slipped it on and put the water on for the pasta.

He picked up the two plates and brought them to the table that also held a few lit candles in the center. He sat down in as he heard her pull up outside, a smile stretching across his weathered features. He could hear her faint footfalls just on the stairs as she made her way to the front door. He had promised her two things, one, that he would tell her his plan, and, two, he would finish what they started this morning.

Jane looked down and checked his pocket. He had gone to see about a ring after Rigsby left. The one that was now in his pocket was beautiful and elegant. The diamond was rounded, and inset in silver with a line of diamonds rounding the circumference. He hadn't wanted her to accept his proposal in the fit of emotional anguish she felt last night. Instead, he wanted her to accept it because she loved him and wanted to be a part of her life and her son's. He felt she was ready to accept him and all his baggage without any emotional influence. This would be her decision that she made all on her own. The truth was he loved her so much, and he loved her son. It didn't matter he wasn't biological to him. It only mattered that he felt more love for that child than anyone could imagine. They both deserved the best, and even if Jane didn't consider himself to be that, he knew that he could at least provide a loving, stable home.

"Jane?" he heard her call as she unlocked the door and stepped inside the apartment. "It smells so good in here."

"Just finished cooking it," he told her, watching her put her gun and badge in the basket on the table next to the door. "Spaghetti and bread."

"Is your plan that bad that you have to offer me food first?" She laughed, walking over to him and bending down to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "It looks delicious. Thank you."

She sat down next to him and lifted her fork to swirl a batch of noodles onto it. He watched for a minute as she shoved the food into her mouth and sucked in a stray noodle. Finally, after she caught him looking at her, she turned her head and swallowed her mouthful of food, frowning at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he whispered. "Just trying to figure out how I got this lucky." He looked away from her and down at his plate. "Now, I assume that you know I have some ulterior motives for the dinner." He smiled easily. "But before we get to that, I think I should explain some things to you."

Lisbon sat her fork down and cocked her head at him. "I'm listening," she replied warily.

"You already know I went to speak with the Judge," he told her. "He agreed to dismiss any old transgressions used against you that don't have a thing to do with how well you take care of your son. And he also agreed that the court mandated therapy sessions for your… sleeping sickness was biased and was never sought by a professional opinion. So, as far as I am aware, the slate it fresh going into this meeting tomorrow."

"Yes, I am aware," she told him, sitting back in her chair. "The court therapy wasn't mandated. It was offered to me, and I agreed. Riley thought it should be required and only then was it mandated."

"Go figure," Jane said. "Anyway, I told you he is trying to go into the FBI. Well, I may have made him believe that he was passed over because of his unstable home life. Now," he held up a hand to her protests, "I know that you think that wasn't exactly a good thing to do. But I assure you it is."

"How so!?" she cried, sitting up abruptly in the chair and placing a hand on the table. "Jane, you can't stoop to his level!"

"I can, I will, and I did," he told her flatly. "You think he gives a good damn about you? About that kid? He's going to take that kid and run with him across the country. Now, listen to me, Teresa. He is going to be very, _very_ unhappy at that meeting tomorrow."

"No shit," she told him in anger. "Jane! What did you do?"

He reached into his other pocket, the one not holding the ring he planned on using later. He pulled out a small, black disc and sat it on the table, pushing it across the wood with his finger.

She picked it up and looked at it carefully. "A bug? Where did you put this?"

"Nowhere yet," he said. "I suspect he will be very upset with me."

"You did that whole FBI thing to bait him into making a mistake you can use!"

"I did, yes," he agreed, nodding his head. "He is a sociopath, Teresa. Completely unhinged by jealousy and anger. All I did was give him a reason to snap. I want to hear him admit in his own words what a piece of shit he is," Jane told her. "And when I told him he'd never touch you again without your permission, that wasn't an idle threat, Teresa. It was a promise I intend to keep. If he does that with you, imagine what he'd do to that little boy."

"He'd never-"

"I am not suggesting he does. I am saying the progression for it to happen is there. And we can't have that. You want your son. I want you and your son. He wants his career and he wants you as a piece of arm candy. Nothing more. You think he still loves you? Because what I saw from him last night was not love. It was abuse and it was blaming the victim for his behavior. He's a coward and I don't want him around that kid if I can help it. One of these days he is going to snap and hurt you or hurt that kid. You are a cop and a strong one that wouldn't put up with that, I know. But knowing he will snap and do it in the first place is unbearable to me, Teresa. It's something I could never, ever live with."

"This doesn't hurt _you_ if it doesn't work, Jane," she told him, pushing away her plate of food and throwing the bug down on the table. "This hurts Aiden."

"It _does_ hurt me, Teresa," he replied quietly. "Seeing you so upset and hurt and unable to see or hold your own child when you want is a travesty! One I won't stand for. And you know what? If at the end of this you don't want to dive into life with someone who is going to love you and Aiden and treat you how you should be treated, that is fine. But I am doing this, Teresa, and regardless of what comes of it in relation to us, you will at least have that kid. I know how much you love him."

"You are playing with someone else's life when you do this," she told him. "If it doesn't work, it is _me_ and _my_ son left in the dark. Not you."

"You were alright with me paying the Judge a visit!" he told her in defense.

"Because he was corrupted! He had no choice and you knew that. What's to say Riley doesn't sequester another Judge? What then? You think they are going to take a bug you planted and believe a man who _murdered_ someone with his bare hands over a detective? Someone who took the coward's way out and _took off for two years_?" She immediately regretted saying that. "I… I am sorry, Jane. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

He stood up, abandoning the cold pasta he never even touched. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He thought when he told her the bulk of his plan, she'd be happy. She'd be understanding that he was helping her gain her son back and get rid of Riley. Couldn't she understand that he only wanted the best for her?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box that held the ring he bought her inside. He sat it on the table next to her plate and smiled sadly.

"After all is said and done and you somehow still love me, this is yours."

"What if I don't want it?" she said, tears filling her eyes and smearing her mascara as the fat drops fell.

"Then you'll find a way to let me know."

He said nothing as he picked up the bug, pocketed it, and walked away from the table, walking over and slipping out the front door and into the evening air.

* * *

Riley Dallon was livid. Pacing his living room floor, he looked over to see Aiden and the nanny playing with colored circles, putting them in order from largest to smallest. He frowned, stopped pacing, and cleared his throat. The nanny looked up at him as she held a red circle up to Aiden for the little baby to take.

"I don't think I will need you tonight, Fran," he told her. "I have some things to do and I think I can handle my son."

The nanny nodded her head and turned back to the toddler. "Here, you go, sweetie! I will see you tomorrow, yes?"

She got up and tilted her head in silent acknowledgment before slipping out the door and into the light rain that was starting to drip from the overcast sky.

He reached over and picked his son up, ignoring the cries as Aiden dropped the circle onto the floor. He put his son in the small playpen in the corner of the room and walked away from his crying child. He picked up his cell phone from the kitchen table and dialed Sam Hilton's number. He'd have to have a change of plans. He was glad that Sam had called him and told of Patrick Jane's little visit. It made everything easier.

"Hi, Sam," he said over his crying son to the Judge on the other end of the receiver. "I was wondering if you could write up an injunction?" He waited for the Judge to reply. "The courthouse? Oh, you can? Can you do it before tomorrow's hearing?"

Riley looked over at his son and smiled at him, causing the baby to cry even harder. He turned away from the child and nodded his head at what the Judge was saying on the other end of the phone.

"Okay. And that's good until when?" He waited. "Great. See you tomorrow afternoon, Sam."

Riley hung up the phone and fist-pumped. The very first thing he planned on doing, however, was going over to Teresa's and giving her a little piece of her mind. He knew Jane would be there, and he didn't care. He'd tell her just what kind of person Jane was. Not that he would need to. His eyes fell to the legal pad on the kitchen table. That spoke for itself. He'd be letting Judge Hilton know about all his transgressions. And a lot of them would be considered detrimental to Aiden's safety. That would also give Teresa a bad rap as a mother, allowing such a cretin into her home and around their son. These were two phases of his plan. The third was to call the FBI recruitment officer after the hearing tomorrow and tell him that things were not what they seemed. He'd make a deal with Teresa… one he knew she'd never refuse. She didn't want her son to go all the way to Virginia… not without her, of course.

"You want mommy and daddy back together?" he asked his crying son, walking over to lift the child into his arms. "Daddy is going to work on it, okay? And the mean old man mommy is with now will be gone forever!" He clapped his sons back gently.

He was about to kiss his squirming son on his cheek when he heard the front doorbell ring. It must be Fran coming back for some reason. He took Aiden with him as he crossed the room and opened the front door.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, the smile falling from his face as his son reached out his hands.

"Can I come in?" Jane asked, his eyes sliding to the baby. "I just want to talk."

He narrowed his eyes and sighed, moving to let Jane pass as he shut the door behind him. Aiden reached out for Jane, and Jane lifted his hands to get the baby. Surprisingly, Riley let him go. He cuddled himself into Jane's arms and stopped crying almost immediately.

"Daddy!" the little baby said.

"He's not your daddy," Riley told his son scalding. " _I_ am."

"That's kind of why I am here, Riley," he told the Agent. "Do you mind if I put him down? Nursery?"

He hesitated, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Finally, "Up the stairs. Straight ahead. Don't get him killed on your way up."

Jane ignored the jab and kissed the little boy on the forehead as he made his way up to his nursery. He was here for some personal business. Business that he didn't think the little boy should hear or see.

As he was laying Aiden down in his crib, he could hear Riley coming up behind him. He stuck his hand in his pocket and grabbed the bar of the crib, placing the bug on the other side, out of sight of Riley.

Jane turned around and was met with a punch to the face. He went down in front of the crib as Aiden cried. His concern was not himself. He worked himself into a standing position, falling in front of Aiden, who was standing up holding onto the crib slats with his little hands. Jane blocked the view of the baby from seeing the attack, but he could hear his cries behind him and a tug on Jane's jacket.

Riley cocked his fist back and cracked it across Jane's face once more. He could feel the hot of iron dripping down his face. He was pretty sure his nose was broken. He did not leave from the hunched position he was in. He didn't want Teresa's son to see the violent act that was occurring in front of him.

"Stop!" Jane wheezed, unable to breathe completely from his broken nose. "Don't let him see this."

"You are _making_ me do this! You just can't stay out of my business with _my_ wife!"

There was another crack of Riley's fist, and Jane could only see black as the baby screamed on.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I am glad you are enjoying this! Sadly, next chapter is the last. I hope my frequent uploads in the latter of this story hasn't been bothersome. I hope to get back into my other TM story, finally, and hope you will join me. You can find it in my profile, called, "In Stitches". Thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Payback**

* * *

It was late when she heard the door creak open. Though she had proceeded to bed long ago, she could not sleep. She kept replaying those awful words she said to Jane a few hours earlier. It was like a tape recorder playing idle parts of their conversation, but her harsh words struck out against everything else. It was like playing a movie in her head that ended badly.

She turned herself to look through the dusty darkness of the room, looking on as his silhouette danced across the small beams poking through the slats in the blinds on the window opposite. She was alarmed when he turned on the table lamp, causing the room illuminate in artificial light. She looked up at him and gasped in automatic horror.

Jane's face was puffed in the eye, cheek and lips. His nose was encrusted with dry blood and his mouth still held a small blob of it at the corners. He cringed in pain as he sat down on the edge of the bed. She kicked the blankets off of herself and crawled to him, sitting beside him and reaching out to gently touch his fat lip with her fingertips.

"What the hell happened to you?" she demanded, pulling back with her fingers when he jerked his head from her touch. "You look like hell!"

"Feel like it, too," Jane told her, bringing his own fingers up to compress the side of his clearly broken nose. "I've had better nights."

"What happened?" she demanded. She was silent a moment when he did not answer, then: "You went to find Riley, didn't you?"

"You aren't going to hit me in the nose if I say yes, are you?" he said thickly, his voice distorted by his broken nose.

"Goddamn it, Jane!" she whispered under her breath as she arose and walked into the bathroom.

He could hear her rummaging around in the medication cabinet before she re-emerged carrying a small, white first-aid bag in her hands. He said nothing as she sat back down beside him opening the case on her lap and taking out a small antibacterial wipe and lifting it to the cut on his lip.

"Ow!" he called out. "That stings!"

"Good!" she told him though her voice was gentle. "What happened, Jane? What did you do?"

"Phase one," he told her smiling, but frowning once it pulled on his split lip. "I didn't expect he'd do it in front of Aiden, though."

"Is Aiden okay?" she asked him, alarmed.

"He's all right. He was crying when I left, but that is to be expected. He saw his dad hurt another person in front of him," Jane told her, reaching up to still her hand from his face. He discovered something shining; glimmering in the light. It was the ring he had bought for her earlier in the day but didn't have a chance to put it on after their disagreement.

"You're wearing it," he whispered, drawing down her hand and looking at it resting on her finger. "You put it on."

She looked down at the ring and then snapped her gaze back up to his, which was studying her. She shrugged her shoulder and smiled at him.

"You said to let you know," she told him plainly.

"Why? After all of this?"

She sighed deeply. "Because I let you go for two years, Jane. Two. I had a child with somebody else who isn't the person he was back then. All I want is to be happy and be free. I can't be either one if that's not with you. This ring," she held it up between them, "is the difference between being happy and being sad and taken advantage of. Even if I don't agree with what you are doing here, I do want you, Jane. I do want what makes me happy."

"That's me?"

"That's you," she told him gently.

"You're saying yes?"

She laughed and swayed her head at him in amusement. "I am saying yes."

He smiled so wide his busted lips, nose, and cheek hurt, but he didn't worry. He reached a hand behind her neck and drew her toward him, kissing her as hard as he could with his busted lip. She dropped the first aid kit off her lap and onto the floor, spilling the contents out of the kit.

Turning her body, she pulled herself half across his body, her arms coming to snake around his neck. She felt his hand slide from her neck, down her curved spine, pressing her into him. He didn't care that his ribs hurt. He didn't even care that his lips and nose were still crusty and dried with blood and hurt when she pressed her own soft lips down upon him. He wanted her badly. He wanted that disagreement earlier to float off and never come back. He wanted his fiancée to feel how much he loved her and wanted her to be his chosen partner in this new life.

Fiancée.

He was engaged to the most beautiful woman. The one who had tried moving on while he was away and couldn't, much like himself.

"Ouch," he cried out against her lips as she accidentally bit down on his bottom lip.

She pulled away and angled her head back from him. "Maybe we should attempt this when your face heals." She leaned off him and sighed. "Want to tell me what went on tonight?"

"Deniability, Lisbon," he told her, pulling her close to him and kissing her cheek. "But I swear to you it was worth it. You will see."

"I… I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier," she told him, turning to him, leaving his mysterious plan alone for a few minutes. "I was just frustrated. You don't know how the things you do affect others, Jane."

"Yes," he assured her, "I do. In this case, Teresa, they will affect you in a good way. I promise."

"You really think this is going to turn out well?"

"Yes."

She sighed again. "Then I will trust you, Jane. It's for Aiden."

"For Aiden."

He kissed her gingerly, his fingers feeling the ring on her finger. "And for you, too."

* * *

Riley sat at the kitchen table, bandaging up his bloody knuckles. He was inconsequentially sitting in the dim light of his apartment smiling over the work-over he just managed to give Patrick Jane. Aiden finally stopped crying when Jane had reached over the crib once he got himself up and was able to coherently see, and kissed the toddler on the head, telling him everything would be okay.

He knew before he even climbed the stairs to Aiden's room that he was going to rough him up. He hadn't planned on it. He stewed for the last few moments before climbing at the fact his son had called him 'daddy' and smiled at the bastard. He would not be intimidated in his own home by a man who was committed to stealing his wife and child.

He was confident that Judge Hilton would do his part. He wanted an injunction to keep Patrick Jane away from his son. If bribing Teresa wouldn't work, then this would. If she wanted to stay with him, she'd never have custody of Aiden at all. So, even though his dreams of going to the FBI seemingly were off, there was nothing to stop him from moving on with their son and leaving her behind unless she chose to come back to him. And then he could talk to the FBI recruiter like he was going to anyway, and see what could be done to expedite the four-year rule. Surely there were strings he could pull.

Besides that, he had a list of evidence to show that Patrick Jane was a violent criminal who has murdered, hurt and maimed people. What Judge, corrupt or not, would allow such a person to be around a child.

As far as the assault on him, he knew Jane would never call the police. He knew that it was only going to make him look bad since he had come to his house and started trouble. He'd know that they would believe a detective over a con man. He remembered the look on Jane's face as he left Aiden's room. It was horror and defeat.

He laughed now as he reached over to pick up his beer, feeling the aching in his fingers starting to dull. Tomorrow would be a good day. Hell, it was already a good night.

* * *

It was early the next morning when Jane and Lisbon walked into the family court office, making their way into the lobby to wait for the Judge to call them in. Jane's face was swollen, his eye black and his nose bandaged. The cuts and scrapes had been cleaned by Lisbon, and though he took a brutal beating, he was smiling.

He had a few things up his sleeve. His hand was firmly placed in Lisbon's as a brown-eyed woman came out of the double doors and waved them inside. She cheerfully led them to the small podium on the left-hand side, her eyes falling over Jane's battered face.

"The Judge will be out in a moment," she told them.

On the other side of the room, Riley was entering through the side door. Aiden was not present, as they didn't like to discuss family matters in front of a small child. Most likely, the nanny had him. Nothing was said between them, but Jane glanced over and saw a smile on Riley's face, his eyes raking over the damage his fists had caused. Jane said nothing as the Judge he had visited a few days prior stepped out and walked to his bench.

They watched as he sat down and looked down upon Lisbon and Jane, his eyes falling over his face and slide over to Riley. Finally, he cleared his throat and opened the folder in front of him.

"Mr. Dallon," he started. "We are here at your request because you are asking the court for a petition that will allow you to maintain full custody of Aiden Patrick Dallon, and to move with the child to another state. Is that correct?"

"It is," Riley told the Judge.

"Okay," Sam Hilton said. "I have to inform you, Mr. Dallon, that recent events have forced me to start fresh on Ms. Lisbon, over here." He looked over at Lisbon and then Jane. "Based on the information I am allowed to use, I cannot grant you the petition. Unless you have other information..."

Riley nodded his sandy hair. "I do."

"Care to share, Mr. Dallon?"

"I want to request an injunction against Patrick Jane. Keep him away from my son as far as possible," Riley said. "He is a violent, dangerous criminal, and the fact my wife lets him around Aiden is enough to make any parent wary of her mental state and her real care for the well-being of a small child."

Judge looked back at Jane and Lisbon. Lisbon was about to speak out when Jane squeezed her hand, letting her know that she should remain silent. Jane smiled widely at the Judge and shook his head.

"I do believe that I would like to talk to the Judge in his chambers with Mr. Dallon if that is okay?"

The Judge looked from Jane to Dallon before finally nodding his head and lifting himself from the bench. Jane motioned for Lisbon to stay where she was, following in front of the bailiff as Riley followed just behind. They were led up a long, stretching corridor, heading to the Judge chambers.

Once they were inside the very same office Jane had visited a few days prior (from another door on the other side of the room), both men sat down in the overstuffed chairs as Hilton sat at his desk.

"Okay," he told them. "Let's make this quick. "What is it you have to tell me in private that you could not tell me in my own court?"

Jane said nothing as he pulled out a small, hand-held tape recorder. He smiled at the Judge and nodded his head at the small device in his hand.

"What is that?"

"Well, let us have a listen, shall we?" Jane replied. He pressed the button and held it up so both men could hear it.

(sound of Jane breathing radically and a baby crying in the background) **Stop! He's crying!**

(Sounds of a fist hitting flesh) I **don't care! You come to my house and you let my son call you daddy?**

(whimpering) **He's just a baby, please!** (another punch)

 **I'll make damn sure Teresa doesn't get Aiden, now!** (heavy breathing)

 **More lies about her? She doesn't want to get back with you.**

 **She'll have no choice if she wants to see her son again.** (a cough) **I've seen to it!** (baby cries harder)

 **A violent man caring for a baby. Assaulting someone in front of a crying child.**

 **What proof do you have? It's just me, you, and a small kid.**

 **Are you going to tell the Judge who you are back pocketing that, too?**

 **You jealous?** (a muffled groan)

"Turn that off!" the Judge demanded.

Jane obliged. "There is a lot more on here," he told them. "And I have three copies ready to be sent out. My computer geek, Grace, has graciously made them for me."

"Sent out to where?" Riley asked. "Isn't that against the law?"

"Oh, and you call yourself a detective," Jane countered. "You see, Riley, you are allowed to be recorded if the person thinks a crime is being committed or about to be committed. I knew you were going to flip. I had no idea Aiden would get stuck in between, though."

"You planned this?" Judge Hilton asked, pointing at Jane's battered face.

"Mostly, yes," he told them, relishing their shocked faces. "When I came here to talk to you, Judge, I knew you'd call him," he said, pointing to Riley. "Old friends don't just stop the favors. I knew you'd tell him of my visit."

"You slimy bastard," Riley said with malice.

"Ah. Kettle, meet pot."

"You set this entire thing up! The meeting with me, going to his home to secretly record him! All to make him look bad as a parent. You provoked him into it, Mr. Jane," the Judge said. "You can't use this in my court."

"I've got three copies, Judge. One will go to the board of Common Courts. Do you really want the board to hear this? See you have given him custody of the son he assaulted a man in front of?" He smiled wider. "The second copy will go to the Sac PD. I think your Sargent would be very interested in this, Riley." He pocketed the recorder. "The third copy will go to the recruitment office of the FBI in Virginia."

Riley laughed. "You wouldn't do that. And even if you did, the FBI recruitment is off. At least, until I talk to them."

"Ah," Jane told him, turning to him now. "That would be untrue. I may have led you to believe that it was over so that you'd be tempted to think I had a hand in it, giving you the motive to want to hit me. I mean, besides the obvious that you want Teresa to control her."

"You-" Riley tried to get a hold of his anger. "You did what?"

"Ah," said Jane. "It's not nice to be manipulated and controlled, is it? Now you know what Teresa felt." He sighed. "Now, there is a way that this all could go away. I will destroy the three copies while keeping the recording just in case, and you get to try to fulfill your dreams in the FBI."

"Is this blackmail, Mr. Jane?" the Judge asked.

"You bet your ass it is, Sammy boy. You bet your ass it is."

Riley sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes. Finally, "What do you want, Jane?"

He chuckled. "Good choice. I want three things, Riley. Three things from you, and you can be on your merry way."

"Like?"

"I want you to drop your custody pursuit. _All_ of it. Give Teresa her son back like she rightfully deserves. Second, I want you to sign the damn divorce papers she tried to get you to sign before. And, third, I want you to accept the job at the FBI, which I was assured by my lovely computer geek, Grace, that you are tops for. Move to Virginia and never come back unless it is to interact with your son, should Teresa want you to."

"And you?"

"Me?" Jane laughed. "I'm getting married, of course."

"Where is this new information, Riley?" the Judge asked, annoyed.

"Never mind," was all he said


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: This is it. The final chapter. I thank all of you for reading this, and hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for over 100 reviews as well! That's awesome.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: When You Wish**

* * *

 **FOUR MONTHS LATER**

He bounced Aiden on his knee, watching the little boy giggle. He was sitting on the floor of their apartment, toys spread out all over the place, including Aiden's favorite mouse toy. Jane lifted the smiling Aiden up into the air, bringing him down to plant a raspberry on his belly. He laughed as Aiden threw back his little head and roared with laughter.

It had been four months since that day at court. While the divorce decree was still being processed, Riley Dallon had begrudgingly signed over all his parental rights to Teresa. He didn't even want time with his son. He cited his move to Virginia and the hardship that would be with his son and his relationship. Riley had gotten the FBI job, and although he didn't deserve it in Jane's eyes, he was just glad to be rid of the man who was a monster. It didn't matter. He figured the FBI would tune him up.

As for Teresa, she had been acting strangely the last few weeks. With Riley moving to Virginia, he suspected she may be feeling a little resentment toward the whole situation. She talked to him about it a few times, but mostly about how good it felt to have her son back and to be marrying Jane. Still, something was worrying her. The good news, however, was that since Riley had left and Aiden was back in her life full time, she hadn't screamed or had the nightmare. Jane figured it was forgotten in all the stuff going on. Would it return? He didn't know. If it did, he'd be here for her.

"Jane," Lisbon called from the kitchen. "Time for baby boy to be put down to bed!"

Jane feigned a frown at the child and sighed. "You hear that, buddy? Mommy says it is time for bed. We will pick up our important meeting about the toys in the morning, okay?" He kissed Aiden on the cheek and lifted him up into his arms as he rose to his feet. "Say night to mommy!"

He brought the baby over for Lisbon to kiss. After Aiden, Jane took his turn kissing her, planting a few small pecks to her lips. He put his free arm around her waist and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"When the baby is asleep, do you think you could put me to bed, too?" he asked seductively, patting her behind.

She chuckled and kissed him, her hand gripping his upper arm. "Maybe."

"Don't tease," he replied, giving her one smaller peck before turning from her and heading toward the stairs. "Mommy is a tease!" he told Aiden, who only pointed at the stairs with his little finger.

It was ten minutes later that Jane was reading the little boy a book as he stood over his crib. Reaching his hands down, he caressed the soft silken hair of the child that was his. Maybe not biologically, but was his nonetheless. Since Aiden's move full time into Teresa's house, the little boy was happier and much more vocal. There was an abundance of change against what he was living with. Now he had people who loved him. Cared deeply for him. It was his home, now. His family.

Once Jane got toward the end of the book, he could hear the baby's soft breathing. Aiden was fast asleep. Jane closed the book, put it aside, and finally turned around to head out of the room. He was startled to see Lisbon leaning against the door with her arms crossed, a smile on her face.

"He's out," Jane told her. "He had a busy day playing with his toys."

"I bet he did," she told him, leaning off the wall and walking toward him. "Come on. I think you need to be put to bed, too."

"You said maybe," he reminded her, letting her reach out and take his hand, guiding him toward their bedroom.

"I did," she agreed. "And now I have made up my mind."

"Oh, good."

She led him out of the room and across the hall, walking into their bedroom before Jane kicked the door closed with his bare foot. She turned around as soon as she heard the click of the door and was on him instantly. Her hands found his hair in the dark, curling her fingers into the locks as she hungrily brought her mouth to his. She captured his lips, pressing hard enough for him to open his mouth for her.

For his part, Jane's hand came around to the base of her neck and pulled her in tightly against him, his other hand dropping from hers to land on her butt. He moaned softly against her lips as he walked her backward in the dark toward the bed, bumping into the nightstand and laundry basket before he felt her falling to the mattress behind her. The kiss did not break, for which he was thankful. He wanted to feel her warm lips on his forever. It was like a wave coming in each and every time their lips parted just to meet again.

She watched as he began to remove his shirt, hurriedly unbuttoning it and shrugging it off his shoulders, throwing it behind him onto the floor. She finally broke the kiss, looking down between them as her fingers reached for his belt buckle.

"I should probably tell you something," she told him breathlessly. "Something important."

"It can wait," he replied, feeling her fingers unzip his pants. "Right now, I do believe we are busy, Teresa."

"Mm," she responded, reaching her hands to pull the pants off his hips. "Okay."

He felt his pants and boxers fall to his ankles. He stepped out of them, kicking them away as Lisbon's fingers felt the slight indentation of his flesh. He growled when her hands wandered to his abdomen, gently ghosting over the hair under his navel before traveling slowly down toward his growing hardness.

"Not yet," he growled out, taking his own hands on hers and casting them above her head, holding them in place by the wrists with one of his hands, using the other to run underneath her pajama shirt.

His warm hand against her blazing hot skin made her moan just a little as he found her breast and squeezed. Tilting his head down, he nuzzled her neck; nipping and kissing the delicate skin there. He dipped his head to kiss her breast through the material of her shirt before withdrawing his hand from her shirt and working on the buttons one-handed.

"I can help," she offered, wiggling her wrists in his grip. "It would be faster."

He let her hands go immediately, and they went to work on her shirt, pulling the buttons easily from their slots. Jane opened the material, pulling at the bottom hem as he coaxed Lisbon up to rid her of it. Once it was gone, his mouth immediately went to the swell of her breasts. His tongue darted out to lick around the nipple, his teeth just barely nipping the hardened bud.

"Ouch!" she cried out. "Be careful with that."

"Sorry," he chuckled, kissing it. "Better?"

"Smart ass!" she said though she laughed.

Her hands came down to his butt, running them over each cheek in lazy patterns as he kissed and nibbled the underside of her tender breast. She felt his hot mouth drag across to the other breast, sucking on her nipple as his free hands tilted up her chin to provide him more leverage and access to them. His lips trailed heavy, wet kisses down her body to her belly, where his tongue once again darted out to lick her flesh.

His hands dropped from her chin, his fingers looped into the elastic of her pajama pants and her lace panties underneath. He pulled gently on them, his fingers scraping her skin. Coaxing them down her body, he toed them off the rest of the way, his hands grasping her waist firmly.

"So beautiful," he told her. "Gorgeous." He kissed her bare abdomen. "Stunning." He kissed her hip bone. "Amazing!" He kissed her hairless V, causing a gasp to escape her lips from such an intimate touch.

"Glad you are enjoying it," she told him. He raised himself up to her eye level and smiled at her.

"Oh, I am," he assured her. "I love you, Teresa. And I am happy to be here right now, able to say we are getting married," he whispered. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am," she told him, lifting her head to kiss him. "Very happy."

Her hands squeezed his butt as he kissed her. She could feel his hardness on her thigh, and she felt her own need rising. He must have registered her look because she felt him reach down between them, leaning a little on her and guide himself in gently to her core.

She hummed quietly as he filled her, stretching her around his pulsing hardness. He slid in completely, finding her warmth surrounding him and making him groan. She held onto his butt with her hands as she felt him thrust out of her gently and push back into her.

His head dipped to kiss her neck, shoulders, and breasts as his body weight pressed down on her gently, pushing himself into her harder each time. Her fingers dug into the flesh of his butt and back as they rocked upward in unison. She pressed him harder into her as his pace quickened. Her legs lifted and locked around his muscled hips as he became faster, her left hand rising up and pulling at the hair on the back of his neck.

He could feel her pulsating around her, his hardness matching her pulsations as he heard her breathing quicken. He knew she was close to release. With another thrust into her, he heard her cry out against him and felt the warmth as her walls contracted around him. Listening to her breathing quicken in tempo, combined with his speed, he knew he was close to his own release. Finally, after a few more pushes and presses, he released, filling her with warmth as he collapsed against her, his head resting on her shoulder.

It was a while before either said anything. Jane pulled himself out of her and they lie quietly for a while in each other's arms. Jane's fingers drew idle patterns on her arm as Lisbon's head rested on his chest, kissing his skin there every once in a while.

"You know," Jane finally spoke. "Remember when I told you I would let you know what I wanted in return for helping you with that whole nightmare issue?"

"Yes," she confirmed quietly. "I do. You thought of something?" He hesitated. Lisbon turned her head to look up at him. "What is it?"

"Well, I know what I want."

"And?"

"I would like to have a child with you, Teresa," he told her. "A sibling for Aiden. A child together."

She was silent for a few moments. Then, "I think that can be arranged, Patrick."

"Really?"

"Really," she told him. "I was going to tell you this earlier, but you wanted to get to the good stuff first." She lowered her head against his chest once more. "I'm pregnant."

"You—we—a baby?" Jane stuttered.

"A baby." She laughed. "I found out two days ago."

He lifted himself off the pillows and pulled her up to him. "I get my wish?"

"I am no Jiminy Cricket," she laughed, "but yes. You do."

He kissed her hard, taking his hands on either side of her face. "I love you!" he said.

"I love you, too, Jane."

He put a hand on her belly and smiled. He gained two children and a wife.

Life for Patrick Jane was finally good.

* * *

 **THE END.**


End file.
